Lagniappe
by BuggyFiction
Summary: Myriam du Mer is destined to live out her life in poverty until a chance meeting with a vampire changes the course. Did she kidnap him or was it the other way around? In any case, the Mikaelsons end up with something extra, a bonus. This, of course, can never end well. Or can it? Can the Mikaelsons have a happy ending?
1. Chapter 1

1698

Three years ago. Three years ago Myriam's family had died from consumption, the illness consuming her mother last. Her community wasn't able to take care of her, and no man wanted to touch her because she didn't appear clean. She wasn't of high standing, not at all, after all, she was raised in the slums of Nice, spending her days at the beach and being taught in the ancient art of black magic. Her mother's best friend was a demonologist, too, and Myriam loved her teachings. But alas, consumption took her also.

Myriam was determined not to allow consumption to take her and with nothing left in Nice to hold her back, she decided to go to Spain where all the big ships left for the New World. Maybe she could get onto one of those ships and start all over.

Three years of travel and doing everything she could to get to Seville faster. Sometimes she could ride on the back of a cart. Sometimes someone had a spare horse for her to use until they'd go their separate ways. She always paid them naturally, although some men just took. But it was difficult, especially once she crossed the border into Spain. She didn't speak the language, and she was a girl alone. Myriam had managed to obtain a weapon for protection during a pretty nasty kerfuffle, but she was running out of bullets.

The world was a big, scary place, and Myriam trusted no one unless she pretended to get what she wanted, needed. And she'd pay. Sometimes heavily, sometimes the flavours were less harsh to deal with. Some men were kind. Women with newborn babies were the most generous. And sometimes even small children knew the best places to hide and be safe for the night.

Myriam did not complain. She knew that her life would change drastically after leaving, and with that, she would. She had kept her witchcraft to a bare minimum, unprotected spells and worship could lead to being prosecuted, and that would end with dire results. Although, nobody had ever successfully prosecuted a real witch. No, true witches were smarter than the regular people believed. Those who perished during the trials weren't right in the head or dared to speak up, and you didn't have to be a witch to do that.

She had taken her mother's friend's notebook with her upon leaving and it had guided her to an address in Valencia; the woman was another demonologist, and upon explaining what had happened, Gaia took her under her wing for a couple of months, teaching her more about prayers and spells, and more about demons. How easy it was to use demons and spirits to do her bidding. Unfortunately, Gaia was an old woman, and while she was exorcising a young child, the beast decided to take Gaia instead, and Myriam had no choice but to cast the demon out. The first one she'd ever evicted. She should have felt proud of herself for doing this, but Gaia's heart gave out and she died moments later.

Myriam chose to spend a few more months at Gaia's house, soaking up all the information the woman had left behind with a little bit of help of magic and summoned the demon who killed her mentor before binding it to a necklace of Gaia's and wore it around her neck. The beast would keep her safe whenever she told him to do so; as repentance for possessing a child and killing her mentor.

She had the demon scout out a farm outside of Valencia to see if it was safe for her to steal a horse from there, as a test. To see if she could genuinely command the demon and trust that it would give her the right information. She managed to get the horse without a problem and started off towards Benidorm. She decided to travel to Seville the long way round, taking the coastal route, because perhaps she would find sailors who would leave for the New World from a different port.

Benidorm was full of fishermen, but they never went out further than a few kilometres out. Quite disappointing. But the fish, the food, was excellent. During one of her restless nights, she decided to take a wander into the village, careful to stay clear of drunks but never in a million years would she have believed what she saw when she turned into an alley.

The man wasn't having sex with the woman. He was holding her as if she was something to be squeezed; his lips were on her neck, but she could see a small glisten of teeth in the moonlight and the woman was crying out in pain. "Toi! Arrêtez!" Myriam called out bravely, causing the man to pause for a moment and look up at her.

"Oh, French! Don't worry darling; you'll be next!" the man replied in French and continued to torment this young woman. Not wanting to be next, Myriam unleashed the demon to get the man away from the woman, and it was quite impressive to see how her demon worked. Invisible to everyone else, but she could see him. He was primarily an average guy, not one of those demons with horns and whatnot and perhaps her demon was more of an evil spirit than an actual demon.

"He's a vampire, you need to run," the demon said as he held the man against the wall.

"Vampires are demons, aren't they?" Myriam questioned him as she watched as the woman got to her feet and ran off. She then approached the 'vampire' and looked at him. "I told you to let go of her."

"And I told you, you'd be next," he replied playfully. "As soon as you'll release me, witch."

"I don't think so," Myriam replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I haven't encountered a vampire before… But technically they are demons."

"Wrong," the vampire responded, a slight hint of panic in his voice. "We're dead. Still technically ourselves. Not demons that you can cast out because there'd be nobody home and the body would die."

"Are you strong enough to take him with us?" Myriam asked her demon, who reluctantly nodded. "Good. I want to test that theory. Follow me." She walked behind her demon and the vampire, who tried to break free from the hold the demon had on him, an amused smile was on her face the entire way back to the little abandoned shack she had found on her arrival. Her horse was fastened to a pole with plenty of water and hay. She hadn't planned to stay very long, but with this encounter with the vampire, she had to rethink her plans. What if he was right and she couldn't cast him out because that would kill him? Could she bind him to her instead? The possibilities were endless!

She had her demon hold the vampire down on the chair as she kept ignoring his pleas and demands of being let go and took one of the books she had brought along from Gaia's house. While Gaia had lived in Spain, she had a lot of books on demons in French, which made it easy for Myriam to understand what she needed to do. Other books were in Latin and Spanish, and she had a hard time getting her mind around that.

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Should I care?" Myriam replied as she sat down on a crate and started to thumb through the pages of her book. "Right now you're my project. You've hurt a woman."

"To feed. I am hungry, and your pet isn't doing wonders on my appetite."

"Then stop fighting," she replied casually, not looking up from her book. She then looked at her demon. "How are you holding up?"

"He's strong; he's not like any vampire I've encountered before," the demon replied. "He's speaking the truth about the need to feed, too. He's hungry, and so am I."

"Well, good thing you don't eat."

"I could do with a kill or fear to sustain me. This one isn't fearful. No, he's… intrigued. Perhaps even… inappropriately turned on."

"Explain yourself," Myriam looked at the vampire, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Darling, I have no idea what you're talking about," he laughed, shaking his head. "But likely your pet has given you some information you desire some clarification about? But can we do that in English? My French is quite poorly, you see?"

"Your French is fine, immaculate," she replied curtly. "I don't speak English." He was looking at her with a big smile on his face, and she didn't know what to say at that point. He looked so innocent, so devious and she temporarily forgot why she had brought him to this abandoned shack in the first place. She turned back to her book and read the entry it had about vampires. It was a mere paragraph, nothing more was known about them, or perhaps there was, and nobody was talking. But vampires could be killed by driving a wooden object through their hearts. They weren't demons and not spirits, either. Something in between. Undead. Necromancers could likely manipulate them. "You're undead," she stated then, looking up.

"What does it matter?"

"You need to pay for what you've done. I am trying to figure out how to make you my servant."

"Oh, like your little pet?" Not losing the smile on his face, he looked in the general direction he felt the pressure coming. The oppression it tried to impose on him. "What's it like, serving your master? What did you do to deserve her wrath?" He then turned his attention back to the girl. "And what I've done is nowhere close what my brother Niklaus is capable of."

"Niklaus Mikaelson?" her demon asked surprised, his control over the vampire slightly wavering. "Ask him, master Myriam, because if he is one of them, you're in trouble."

Myriam huffed as she shook her head. She then put her book down as there wasn't anything of importance in it and walked back over to the vampire. "You've impressed my pet, is your brother Niklaus Mikaelson?"

"You have a very clever pet, witch," the vampire smiled widely. "But not to worry, I am not anything like him. Depending on who you ask, I'm either worse, or I'm not important. What I am, however, is a friend to all the witches. I've spent the last 500 years travelling around the globe learning new tricks and teaching other witches and, if you so wish, I could teach you."

"He'll kill you," the demon snarled. "Which is fine by me, as it'll mean that I'm free again, but I believe you had plans?"

Myriam realised that her demon had failed to contain the vampire when the vampire rose and started to walk towards her. In a slight panic, she snapped his neck and gathered her belongings as she put her demon back into the necklace. She wasn't sure if she had killed the vampire, but Myriam needed to make sure she'd stay away from him. Myriam hopped on her horse and galloped out of town.

She didn't stop for the day; she kept going until she noticed that her horse was getting tired and was on the verge of collapse. They were in San Javier, and she snuck her horse into a stable so it could get its rest and decided to have a nap next to her companion as well. The next morning she was roused by an angry farmer with a pitchfork and very much heavy yelling causing all the animals to be upset. He was blocking her exit, and when she tried leaving on her horse, the man stabbed her horse with a pitchfork, making her fall off and hit her head against the side of the stable, and surely breaking something.

"That is no way to treat a lady!"

Before she knew it, the farmer sank through his knees, revealing the vampire she had left holding a bloody heart in his hand. "Don't hurt me!"

"I should," the vampire said as he dropped the heart to the ground and moved the body of the horse to get to her. "Since you kidnapped me and all," he playfully said as he grabbed her bag and scooped her off the floor. "Hang on tightly, little witch, I'm taking you away from here."

He took her to a home with a view of the sea, very rich and distinguished looking, and very clean. He carefully set her down on the couch and dropped her bag next to her before reaching for a glass, biting his hand and poured some of his blood in there. "Here, drink this. It'll heal your broken bones."

"It's blood," she said as she scrunched up her nose and tried to reach for her necklace where the demon was in, but it was gone. "My necklace!"

"Relax, darling; you don't need your pet. I won't hurt you," he calmly said as he set his glass on the table. "My name is Kol Mikaelson, I'm a friend to the witches, even when they've kidnapped me first."

"You hurt a woman."

"And I hurt men, too, as you have seen."

"He wanted to kill me, why didn't you let him?"

Kol sighed then. "Darling, I want to help you to get better at your craft. I can teach you so many things, and you haven't deserved to die, have you?"

"I'm cursed," Myriam said while she realised that she wouldn't be able to run from him, not feeling the way that she felt at this current moment. Her demon had warned her about vampires, and she continued anyway. And the vampire, Kol, followed her to her next destination.

"And what makes you say that? Is it because everyone around you dies of consumption or the runs? No offence, but that's very common in your social circles."

"And what might that be?"

"Poor," he pointed out. "Hygiene is hard to maintain for you poor people, and thus the illness spreads. In any case, you might not be cursed because if you were, you would have perished as well. But you haven't. You can trust me, whatever your name is. I won't hurt you."

Myriam huffed then. "It's all that men do. Hurt and take."

"Good thing that I'm a vampire who's been around for nearly 700 years and know better," he winked at her before taking the glass and handed it to her. "Drink. You'll feel better. Trust me. I have no desire to make you one of my own, and I want to help you." When she did not attempt taking the glass from him, he put it back down on the table. "Are you hungry? I'll see if there's something in the kitchen. Don't run. Please don't run."

She watched him walk away before reaching for her bag and turned it upside down. Had she lost Gaia's necklace that held the demon? All that was in her purse was a change of clothes that needed washing, a few small trinkets, including that particular one of her mother and nothing else. Her books. She knew she had taken a few of her books with her when Myriam left Benidorm, but if her books were discovered, San Javier would start a witch hunt, and she merely hoped that there wouldn't be any identifying notes in there because… Why was she so afraid to die? If she were to be discovered, then that was her fate. Perhaps it was also her fate that she was now in the company of a being that she wasn't familiar with and had to resign to her fate.

Or maybe later run.

If this Kol Mikaelson said that he wouldn't hurt her, could she trust him in not doing so? There was no way in hell that she was going to drink blood pure like that. If it had healing properties, then she'd believe him, but she wasn't going to drink it straight. She saw a side table filled with alcohol on it and diluted the blood a little with one of the bottles before knocking it back, eyes shut, and if it hadn't been for her other arm hurting, she would have pinched her nose.

And as if by a miracle she could feel the throbbing in her head reduce gradually and the bones in her arm were moving to connect themselves again. She wasn't sure if it was because of the blood or the strong alcohol she mixed it with, though.

She took this calm to put her belongings back into her bag. "Hey, I've seen that before," Kol had appeared out of nowhere with a plate filled with great smelling food. He set it down on the table and took it out of her hands. "So apart from a witch, you are also a thief?"

"No! Give that back!"

"This couldn't possibly be yours!"

"It is! My mother was given that when her services were no longer required!" Myriam snatched the trinket back and tossed it into her bag. "That is all I have left of her, stay away from it!"

"Services? Your mother worked for the Italian royalty? What was she? Their witch?"

"What do you mean, Italian royalty?" Myriam demanded. "Are you saying that the man who impregnated my mother is a royal?"

Kol thought for a moment and shook his head. "Perhaps not," he replied as he handed her the plate of food. "Would be quite the strange story for someone like yourself, raised in poverty, to find out that she's the offspring of a duke or a prince and therefore royalty herself."

"That sounds like wishful thinking, or like one of those bedtime stories. Fables."

"Indeed. A more likely tale is that the man who gave that to your mother was a thief. And a good one at that," he concluded as he pointed at the plate. "I am happy you're feeling better. Now eat. Then you're going to rest some and when you wake there will be another meal before I want to test your abilities."

"What?"

"I told you, I want to help you to become a force to be reckoned with, not merely a witch who does party tricks. The only way I can do that is by testing you. And perhaps start teaching you English, all this talk in French is tiresome."

"Don't I get a say in this?"

Kol smiled. "No. Maybe in six months."

"You're kidnapping me now?"

"Perhaps I am," he said with a nod. "If giving you a clean home with good food and running water means kidnapping you, sure."

"So I'm free to leave?"

"No. And don't try running as I'm faster. Now eat." Kol got to his feet and left the room, leaving her to herself. That trinket of hers was a quite interesting one. She could be royalty, one way or the other, and if she was able to control invisible pets, she was likely a demonologist. And on top of that, a witch. Not well versed in magic, but the potential was there. She was interesting, a real spitfire.

He knew that, in time, she was going to trust him and they were going to have so much fun.

~o.O.o~

Myriam pretended to be cooperative for the rest of the week, still not giving Kol her name, but he did have more knowledge than she had ever possessed. She could easily leave when he went out for a feed or brought in a new person to cook for them, but she took the time to amass her army of demons in case she'd need them. She was running out of trinkets she could bind them to, but an army of ten was likely enough for her to escape the vampire when she needed to.

But, for now, she was going to stick around and learn as much as she could because he was true to his word; so far, he hadn't hurt her or had demanded payment for his help. Aside from feeding her and teaching her, he had also gotten her some new clothes. She felt truly clean, she could take warm baths with fancy soaps and Myriam had to admit, all of this luxury made her feel like she was a real woman.

But it was a fairytale. A fable. And bad things would always happen in those kinds of stories, so her army of demons was an excellent preparation for when things would go awry. Or, if Kol decided to be like every other man.

"How many did you summon and bind to you, darling?" Kol asked her as they were enjoying paella and a luxurious glass of red wine. "Oh, don't give me that look, I would have done the same if I were in your position. I'm grateful that you're not using them on me."

"Yet."

"Yet?"

"You haven't given me any reason not to use them on you, yet," she responded as she took a sip of her wine. "You said it yourself; vampires are fickle with fickle moods and intense emotions. It makes you unreliable, so I must prepare for that."

"I understand that," he replied as he looked at her. "Or you know, when you come across men who wish harm on you. But, you do know that once you're stronger with your natural magic, you won't need them anymore?"

"My demons and spirits can also possess people to make them do my bidding," she told him. "You're strong enough to fight them off, but regular men aren't. But they are strong enough to keep you away from me when I want them to be."

"I understand that too," he replied, a wary smile on his lips. "But I hope I've shown you enough that you won't need to use them on me."

"Are you afraid?" she laughed. "Of me? You're super fast and super strong, you could rip my heart out before I could even unleash one demon."

"Afraid? No. Apprehensive? Maybe. As I said before, you have such great power inside of you, and I want you to unleash that. Not on me. But use it."

Oh, Myriam knew where this was going. He only wanted to teach her magic because he couldn't do it himself. "On your enemies?"

"Ah, that's up to you darling."

"That's not a confirmation nor a denial."

"Exactly," he winked at her. "Eat up, after dinner we're going to practice your English."

~o.O.o~

Six months later, and they were still in San Javier. It had been the most extended amount of time she'd spent anywhere since leaving Nice, and also the most fun time. Kol was a great teacher, he was patient, on his good days, and had a vast amount of knowledge. Myriam still held on to her army of demons, but Kol had been nothing but respectful towards her. He wanted to teach her a lot in a short amount of time, and she had been keeping up with him quite well, but she was starting to feel restless.

And unfortunate for her, Kol noticed. "What's wrong, darling?" He still didn't know her name. It had started out as a game, but during her studies with Kol, she realised that by knowing someone's or something's name, it would give you power over them. How she had control over her demons as she knew them by name. She wasn't ready yet to give him that power over her.

Myriam sighed as she looked at him. "I left Nice to travel to one of the main ports in Spain to take me to the New World. Spending six months here… it's not moving me any closer to there." He wanted her to speak English; otherwise, she'd never learn, but she was a fast learner, and while she still made a few mistakes, she had grasped the basics, and when Myriam didn't know a word, she always said it in French.

"And why would you? I'm teaching you all that I know, isn't that good enough?"

"I suppose," she replied quietly. "Perhaps it was my foolishness as a teenager that believed that going to the New World would mean a completely fresh start. That being dressed in rags wouldn't matter as everyone else would be in the same predicament after a while."

"You're not dressed in rags now. You're well fed and taken care of while you study."

She then looked at him. "But isn't it every woman's fate to find a husband and make a family?"

"Your mother fell pregnant with you while she was working and you grew up without a father. You turned out alright. Women don't need men to be worthy or to have the life that they desire. It's out there, for the taking. For someone with your powers, it would be easy to take what is your birthright."

"Are we still talking about the New World or something else entirely?"

"That trinket of your mother. It has been haunting me ever since I saw it, and I know it's from the Medici family. Granted, their rule might be declining as the line thins out, but I know that 200 years ago my brothers were in their court. I might have been there briefly, out of sheer boredom, but I soon left," he explained. "Five red balls are surrounding a golden shield with a blue ball on it, am I correct?"

Myriam nodded as she took the trinket out of her pocket and put it on the table in front of her.

Kol pointed at it and smiled. "That exact emblem can be found on buildings all over Florence and Tuscany, on any church, building or palazzo that was financed with Medici money. At the height of their power, the Medici's ruled both Tuscany and Florence, and they had very influential friends. Especially in Florence. No one quite knows what the balls mean. Some say they represent dents in a shield. Some say they're pills, of the pharmaceutical kind, and others believe that they are coins."

"I always thought they were oranges."

"It's quite possible that that answer is correct, but we'll never know. Even my brothers never found out what they truly represent. The Medici family were bankers and wool merchants 200 years ago when my brothers found them, and they were turned into the richest family at that point in time. They became patrons of the arts and humanities. The last one is particularly ironic seeing as my brother Nik has quite the appetite, and my brother Elijah is a maniac in his own right. The Medici's also supported architecture and the sciences. In particular, Galileo Galilei who showed his gratitude by teaching the Medici children."

"And you truly believe that this trinket belongs to the man who impregnated my mother and dismissed her from his court?"

"I do," he replied truthfully and saw how her face changed. It was almost as if there was a thundercloud over her head, so much anger, so much rage, and he could barely contain his excitement. "How does it make you feel that you could have lived such a different life? You could have grown up without poverty, and perhaps your mother would have never contracted consumption if she'd been allowed to stay. My guess is that he gave her that as compensation."

"This is nothing but a useless trinket," Myriam scowled. "If it were possible, I'd find that man and…"

"Kill him?"

"No. I'd curse him and any of his other progeny - present or future. And perhaps take a little bit of his money to pay for passage to the New World."

He was only a little bit disappointed. There was nothing wrong with a bit of bloodshed. "Shall we go on an adventure, darling? Track him down? Have a little bit of fun? Get your revenge?"

"We can do that?"

"Of course!" Kol replied, a big smile on his face. "And while we travel back to Italy, we will continue your studies, how does that sound?"

"But will it not take a long time? It took me three long years to travel to Valencia out of Nice."

"We're in San Javier. There are plenty of fishermen, and we'll compel the one with the best boat to get us across, and he'll take us back, too. In the end, we'll reward him handsomely. At most, it will take us three months to get there."

"I'm not going to spend three months at sea. How long will it be on horseback?"

"About as long, so would you rather spend it in relative comfort or severe discomfort?"

"On a boat, you'd need a lot of people with you because you need to feed, on horseback you can stop whenever you want," she argued, a smile on her face because she'd already won and she knew it. The more people on a boat would mean the ship would be slowed down. Granted, the boat would gradually go faster once he threw his dead meal overboard, but it still would take them longer.

He relented with a sigh and a nod. "A horse-drawn carriage. I am not going to be on the back of a horse, it's uncomfortable, and we'd want to bring some books along the way to continue your studies."


	2. Chapter 2

1699

Travelling by horse-drawn carriage was something only few could afford, but it did make the trip a lot easier and less tiresome. After all, Myriam had travelled by foot and on horseback for three years when she left Nice, and it hadn't been a pleasant journey at all.

Not that being in a confined space with a vampire for three months was a breeze, but at least they could stop and rest for a day or so in a town they'd passed.

Kol hadn't been particularly happy when Myriam found a large field of wildflowers, excitedly exclaiming that it was hard to get herb as most crops that she had known of were burned during the summers. Verbena was beautiful, and Myriam had seen it used in protection potions and the protection of homes.

Kol stayed clear of the field as Myriam waded through it, her hands running over the flowers, no doubt the flower sticking to her clothes and her hair and he was going to have a rash until they'd arrive somewhere where he could burn her clothes, and she could have a decent scrub.

He hadn't told her about his weaknesses. Myriam believed still that he could be killed by a stake to the heart, and that it was his only weakness, but Verbena was a real threat to all vampires. He never bothered to build up a tolerance for it, seeing as he was an Original anyway, it wouldn't put him down for long, it just hurt like hell.

But he had to draw a line when she picked the flowers, tied them into a lovely bunch and wanted to bring them inside the carriage. "No."

"But they're pretty! And they're used for protection! A-and we can use the dried stuff in potions!" Myriam countered as she tried to push past him, brushing the bundle of Verbena against his arm, causing him to recoil and his vampire face came out. Myriam stumbled back as she looked at him in awe. She hadn't seen his vampire face before, and it looked… not as frightening as he had made her believe.

"I said no!" he cried out as he rubbed his arm and tried to calm down. "That's vervain. Mother Nature's clever way of creating a weakness for everything that was created against her wishes. Humans can ingest vervain to make their blood taste bad to my kind of vampire and to stop us from compelling them. Not to worry, darling, you're a witch, and I can't tell you what to do against your wishes; that's also Mother Nature's protection of beings she created to deal with my kind."

"Easy, I didn't know," she said calmly, still staying away from him after throwing the bundle back into the bushes. "It's gone now. It won't hurt you anymore."

"You're coated in it!"

"Okay, calm down," she smiled at him before she started to strip off her clothes. "There's a stream nearby, I'll go and wash my hair. You can burn my clothes if you wish."

He looked at her in shock. She was standing in front of him, stark naked and she was walking away from him, towards the stream. Myriam was gorgeous and the panic that he had felt merely ebbed away upon seeing her like that. Willing to be kind, to be nice, and helpful when she had hurt him by accident. He stepped over the clothes and followed her, keeping his distance, but her behaviour fascinated him. "Darling, why are you doing this?"

"I don't want to hurt you, and I did."

"It's just a burn, and it's already healing."

"I still have its oils on me. Don't worry, I'll take a dip, scrub my skin, but could you get me some clean clothes?" Myriam looked over her shoulder then, flashing him a smile. "But once I'm clean, you're going to tell me everything about what could hurt you."

He zipped to the carriage to gather his thoughts and her clothes before returning. "What? So you can use that to hurt me?"

"You're a vampire, Kol. We've been in each other's company for nearly nine months. Trust goes both ways. Merde," she rolled her eyes at him before splashing into the water. "Join me. The water is nice! Let's have a little bit of fun, wash away 30 long days of travel!"

She didn't have to tell him that twice! He removed his clothes and jumped into the water, splashing the water in her face as he landed. "Oh, you're right, darling, the water is nice!"

Kol had an amazing physique. She had given her body freely, and sometimes not so freely, at times to pay for things men did for her, such as giving her a horse or food, but his beautiful face matched his fantastic body and Myriam wanted it. Maybe she was going to use her demons to get what she wanted, but she didn't want to be like some of the wicked men she encountered. No… she had to entice him.

~o.O.o~

He wasn't certain what had come over her after their swim, but she'd been quite forward in the carriage. Showing skin, sweet words, touches. And it was hard not to act on it. He was glad that they arrived in Florence so he could get out of the carriage and get them a place to stay.

"Am I repulsive?" Myriam asked as she walked after him. "Don't I have a great body?"

"No and yes," Kol replied as he turned around to face her. "Darling, I believed we had a different arrangement than this. I'd teach you, and take you to see your biological father."

"But you are doing so much more," she smiled at him. "You feed me. Clothe me."

"And I don't require payment."

"But it's not payment," she looped her arm through his as they continued to walk. "I liked what I saw yesterday. You're very handsome and very… well toned. I can only imagine what it would feel like to have your hands on me, your lips on mine… your manhood inside of me… We're both adults, aren't we? You can teach me, clothe me, feed me… and we can have some fun on the side. All work and no play makes us both bored, and in the long run, it's not productive."

"You'd like to renegotiate our deal?"

"We never had a deal, you kidnapped me," Myriam huffed. "And then you told me what you wanted to do with me."

"If we're going into details, darling, you kidnapped me first!"

"I'll give you some time to think about it."

"And what if I refuse?"

"I'll find a random man off the streets," she smirked as she looked up at him. Myriam knew that Kol wouldn't like that. But she hadn't had sex for at least the amount of time she'd been with Kol, and she had to admit, she was missing it.

"That's not going to happen."

"You can't stop me from doing that, that's not what we agreed upon," she replied, not taking her eyes off of him. "I have my needs too."

"I'll think about it," Kol said as he stopped in front of a building. "This is our family home here in Florence. It's nothing fancy, but we tend to have a home in every major city. The last time my family was here was about 200 years ago," he opened the door and was greeted by one of the compelled vampires his brothers kept running the place. "Kol Mikaelson," he introduced himself. "Prepare two bedrooms please, and make us something to eat."

"Yes, sir," the vampire replied and sped off.

Myriam looked around the grand hallway that she and Kol were in, and from the looks of it, the floors and the walls were all made out of expensive marble floors. Kol had told her that his family was wealthy, but this was insane. It didn't even look like a home. It looked more like a mausoleum, but who was she to complain?

Kol took her to the library where the walls were covered top to bottom by books, ancient looking books on everything and anything. "Everywhere we go, we collect books, I'm pretty sure some are about witchcraft and perhaps even Demonology."

Myriam smiled then. Kol had admitted not knowing a lot about her craft and her pets, and only made several good guesses on how she did it. Because in his mind, what she did wasn't a lot different from a form of witchcraft called Kemiya something they practised in Arabia. Although the way Kol described it, it sounded more like what an alchemist would do and then a little spot of magic. Because Kemiya was big on destroying the fundamentals of an object and change it to something completely different with magic, to use it as a Dark Object. Myriam merely put a demon inside a trinket to keep them safe. She didn't change the object, at all, only enriched it. For all she cared, she could stuff her demons inside glass vials and still be able to drink out of them.

"My brother Elijah is a historian of the sort. He loves his history and the documentation of it. He always believes that what happens now has already happened in the past and it can be changed. His interest comes with a lot of books."

"I can see that."

"We have repositories all over the world."

"I get it. You've lived a long life, and you're able to be collectors, there's nothing wrong with that."

"But you practice dark magic, do you not? I don't think we have books on that here, but you can always simply expand your knowledge with different types of witchcraft."

"Which you've been already teaching me, Kol. That is enough," she said as she put her arms around him and looked up at him. "Have you given my proposal a thought?"

"The one you offered half an hour ago?"

"Yes."

"No, not yet."

She narrowed her eyes at him before letting go of him and headed to the door. "Very well, I'll be back shortly. It shouldn't take me long to find what I desire right now."

"That's blackmail, darling," he said as he appeared before her, keeping the door shut. "You haven't even told me your name."

"And you will not get it unless I get what I want," she smirked.

Kol was tired of being the mouse in this cat and mouse play. Kol wasn't a prey, he was a predator, and he was going to take what he wanted, too. He lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder before taking her to one of the bedrooms. Instead of putting her down on the bed, he put her down on the ground and pushed her against the wall. "I am trying to impress you, darling, and you want sex?"

"So far, I'm not impressed," she countered, her eyes dark with lust as she looked up at him. Her heartbeat calm as ever. "I'm impressed by your knowledge, your handsome face and your delicious body. Not by marbled houses or an extensive collection of books. Or your wealth."

"Oh, by the time I'm done with you, you will be thoroughly impressed, darling," he promised her before kissing her hard.

~o.O.o~

Oh, Myriam was impressed alright. Kol had the stamina, and while he had been rough on occasion, he also had a tender side to him that made their sex very enjoyable. It had been one of the first times that she had experienced such a great feeling and by the time it was breakfast, Myriam was genuinely satiated and couldn't move from the bed. "I think you broke me."

"Good," Kol laughed. "I'm flattered."

"But I am famished," she looked at him and smiled. "Breakfast and then a nap?"

"Sounds like a plan, darling, you'd want to be fully alert when we pay a visit to your family. Perhaps while you're napping, I'll find out who the bastard is so I can take you right to him."

"Oh, yes," she nodded as she breathed out when Kol's hand touched a sensitive area on her skin. "Stop that."

"Why?" he teased her as he did it again. "Too much?"

She nodded. "Way too much."

"Very well. Darling, it would help if you'd give me the name of your mother and her occupation, it would make my search a lot easier."

"Her name was Veronique du Mer, and she was a courtesan."

"Du Mer? Did she give you her last name too?"

"Don't be silly. I only have one name," she rolled her eyes at him before stifling a yawn.

"I'll be back shortly," he kissed her before getting out of the bed and headed out of the room, still unclothed, to find one of the servants to get his companion something to eat. He then took a shower and got dressed, finding his witch passed out on the bed with a meal on the nightstand.

After Myriam woke up and had her meal, she took a shower and got dressed before locating her bag and counted her trinkets. She let out a relieved breath when she found them all still in place and took one demon from its imprisonment. "Find Kol Mikaelson and keep an eye on him," she commanded him. "Do that, and I shall free you once he returns safely."

"He's a vampire, milady. He can take care of himself."

"You will do as I command you to or there will be consequences," she said as she pointed in the general direction of the door. "Find Kol and keep an eye on him. If he even spills one drop of blood, I want to know. I'm supposed to deal with this, not him."

"As you wish," the demon bowed and shimmered out of existence. The demon was one of the first Myriam had pulled out of the other dimension to serve her, as she was building her tiny army and one of the weakest. She could get a more powerful one in its place.

Myriam then went to the library, merely to have a look around and marvel at all the knowledge. She hadn't been impressed by it when Kol showed her, and she still wasn't, but perhaps there was a book that she wanted to borrow for more spells for her magic. Or perhaps… yes! She managed to get the big book off the shelf and dusted it off, and happily sat down in one of the chairs with it to read. It was a book on herbs, and she wanted to know more about those, and Verbena, Vervain, in particular.

While she couldn't be compelled as she was a witch, didn't mean that she was safe from vampires biting her and draining her dry. Even Kol could one day decide to do this to her, and she wanted to live a normal, happy life. Would it be possible for her to create her own mixture of herbs and make it into a tea, to protect her blood? Would it clash with Wolfsbane? Kol had told her about werewolves too, and how they didn't particularly like that herb. Wouldn't it be nice that should a beast take a bite out of her that they'd die a long and painful death?

Would the tea be a problem for Kol? It would be inside of her, and she could keep it in a new satchel for protection towards him. Perhaps he wouldn't even like the idea, but she was going to talk to him about it seeing as most of the herbs she thought would protect her from the inside was growing on the way between Italy and Spain, to begin with.

"What's the look on that face?" Kol's voice sounded, making her look up only to see him smile widely. "Oh, herbs!"

"Yes," Myriam nodded. "Did you find him?"

"I did."

"Good," she smiled at him as she broke the trinket her demon had been attached to. "Can we go and visit him now?"

"If you want," he smiled at her before pointing at the book. "Any interesting thoughts?"

"Actually, yes," she said carefully. "And I don't want you to be mad at me for saying this, okay?"

"I promise."

"I know that you won't take a bite out of me. But, you told me that there are more vampires and that there are werewolves in existence too, and they could harm me if I'm not fast enough with a spell or commanding a demon to protect me. I was thinking I would make a concoction of herbs we found along the way to Italy. The Verbena, the wolfsbane, the lavender and the wolf lichen. Perhaps some ginger and rosebud for taste. Would that protect my blood from both species?"

"It'd sure pack a punch, yes," Kol cocked his head. "Why would you think I'd get mad for you wanting to protect yourself for when I'm not around?"

She smiled then. "You won't always be around, I bet that once you've taught me all that you know, you'll abandon me for better pastures. I was worried about the Verbena."

"Well, if you keep it away from me and are careful how you pluck the flowers, I'm not offended or panicking. As you trust me in not killing you, I trust you in not hurting me," Kol squeezed her knee then. "Before I take you to the Medici court, we both need to have a change of clothes. We need to look more regal. Fancy dress, darling! I'm sure that this house has some clothes you will fit!"

The dress felt like nothing as if she wasn't wearing anything but it was quite big to move around in, and with one of the vampire servants doing her hair, she felt like royalty. Like a princess. "I don't even recognise myself."

"You look absolutely stunning, darling," Kol smiled at her. "How do I look?"

"Handsome as always," she looped her arm through his. Kol liked being complimented, he was very vain in that aspect, but she didn't mind giving him compliments because she wasn't lying. He was handsome in every single way.

As they were seated in the carriage, Kol started to tell her about what they were going to walk into. "They're having a ball tonight. A lot of important people are going to be present, but I was told that your father is attending too. Hence why we had to look the part, otherwise we would have never been allowed entry, or we would have stood out too much."

"A ball?"

"Fancy dress, some dancing, some food… drinks… loads of idle chit-chat and… perhaps some mayhem," Kol smirked. "I do love my balls."

"Which one? The ones attached to yourself?"

"Those too," he barked out a laugh. "But there's nothing wrong with gatherings like these, I always make sure that everyone is having a great time… no wait, I always make sure I have a great time."

"And what about me?"

"I don't know, we'll just have to see how well you fit in with me," he smiled a knowing smile. He was curious how Myriam'd react to his kind of party, but in all fairness, she was also an unknown element, and she had a lot of rage inside of her. Perhaps she would be the one to start things off. "Do you have your army with you, darling?"

"Of course," she gently patted her small clutch bag. "But I'm still not sure why you wanted me to bring them."

"Oh, in case you want to oppress someone or curse someone…"

"What! At an important ball like that?"

"I never said it was important, merely that there were going to be important people attending, including your father. You don't have anything to worry about, darling. I'll keep you safe."

Myriam's brow rose as she gave him a sceptical smile. "I've come to learn in my time with you that safe with a vampire often tends to be conditional."

"I've told you many times before, we tend to be fickle," he mused. "Hence why it's a good idea that you want to make yourself a tea blend you'll drink every day. In case I forget that I may want more than just a small sip from your pretty neck while in bed."

Myriam laughed then, shaking her head. "Cochon."

"And proud of it, darling!"

They rode in the carriage for about ten minutes when it came to a halt, and after Kol helped Myriam out of it, she was in awe of the building in front of her. It was enormous. The stone masonry was incredibly detailed, the carvings utterly enchanting and the whole building was quite intimidating.

"You haven't seen anything yet," he whispered in her ear as he gently took her arm and guided her to the two wide-open doors leading into the courtyard.

Two soldiers were standing on the door's side to make sure that everyone going in was a friendly face, and of course, they were stopped by one of them. "Kol Mikaelson," he said as he compelled the soldier. "You'll find that my family's name doesn't require an invitation."

"Indeed, your family's name doesn't require an invitation," the man repeated with a nod. "Enjoy your evening, Mr Mikaelson."

"Grazie," he said before pulling Myriam along with him into the wide open space. The building looked like something his brothers would have built. Perhaps it looked a lot like their home in Rome, without the courtyard. No, as far as Kol knew the only home with a courtyard was somewhere in Spain. "All those important people," he whispered in her ear. "Would be such a shame if harm would come over them."

"I thought this was a ball and not a gathering?"

"Once it's time, the other doors will open, and everyone will be spoken to by the man of the house, and invited to join him for a dance in the ballroom before we'd all be allowed to scatter and roam the property. There will be servants telling us where we're not allowed to go if we stray too far," he explained as he took a glass of sparkling wine from one of the platters and handed it to her, before taking one himself. "There's a painting in this home that I think you'll love to see."

"I don't care, I want to see who my father is," she said as she took a sip of the wine and scrunched up her nose because of the taste, it wasn't anything like she'd tasted before, and took another one, that was better to her taste buds.

"Relax, enjoy yourself. I'm certain the man will introduce himself to you before we have a chance to find him."

"And why is that?"

"You're really impatient, aren't you?" He laughed. "Or perhaps you're nervous?"

"And so what if I am?"

He let out a breath as they walked around the courtyard. It was adorned with statues and had pillars all over, creating a lot of opportunities to do whatever the hell he wanted without being seen. "Tonight, we're both predators. I already told you that he will find you, first. These people won't know what happens to them until it has already happened. And you know what predators do; they observe their prey first and then strike at the most opportune moment. It's the thrill of the chase."

"Yes, but-"

"No need for doubt, darling. Tell me what you see, who will be the weak? Aren't some people more influenced by your demons than others?"

She sighed as they kept walking around the courtyard, sipping their wine. "The women hold no power. Women are invisible but not to those in their own circles," she muttered. "It's likely that when things do get bloody, no one will believe them and will put them away in a poor house for suffering from hysteria." Every single human in that courtyard looked immaculate. Spotless. Wealthy. "They all look important and wealthy. Healthy, too. Some men who are shorter than others look stronger than their friends. But I'd have my demons always go for the stronger men, as they're more dangerous."

"Of course, but sometimes you can hold more power by influencing the less strong," he agreed. "You have nothing to fear from these people, but I do wish to take a bite out of someone later on. However, you could use your demons to influence someone into signing over their wealth to you for when we eventually go our separate ways. Although I have to inform you that I'm not tired of you yet, nor willing to let you leave."

She smiled at him then. "I'm always thinking about the future."

"Good, then add this to the list; one day, this place will be yours."

Myriam looked at him and shook her head as she laughed. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"You, like me, have the power to take what you want. Or to take what you don't want. It's all a matter of careful planning and patience," he countered. "You are powerful, Myriam, and you shouldn't have to hide it. You should take what is owed to you, or take when the current owner is not worthy of it. So believe me when I say that when I've taught you everything I know, you will be more than equipped to take this home as your own."

She shook her head as she took another sip of her wine. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard."

"Trust me."

"Sure," she shook her head again. "Sometimes you're a strange being, Kol Mikaelson."

"I like to keep people on their toes," he winked at her before nodding towards the doors that opened. "Ah, it is time."

"Good evening well-esteemed ladies and gentlemen," the man spoke, his voice projecting through the courtyard. "I welcome you all into my home here in Florence. I hope you'll enjoy your evening, but first, let us open this ball with a traditional dance from our lovely country in our ballroom! Follow me, please!"

"That is Giulio d'Medici. Supposedly this house was sold on to a different family after the lower ranking Medici's didn't want to live here anymore," Kol informed her quietly. "But his entire family, brothers, sisters, parents, wives, children, lives here. Your father is his brother."

She narrowed her eyes at Kol before looking at the retreating head of her uncle. "I have a big family then?"

"At least on your father's side, yes."

"He should have never dismissed my mother. He could have made her a permanent fixture even when I came along! Mother would have had such a better life!"

"And you, don't forget about you, darling," he reminded her. "You're everything left of your mother's side of the family."

"Perhaps I should decimate his family so he can feel what it's been like for the last 19 years of my life!"

"Patience," he put his hand on the small of her back as he guided her into the ballroom. "Look up, there's a beautiful painting on the ceiling which depicts the Apotheosis of the family."

"Flying cows?" she muttered as she looked up. She wasn't really knowledgeable about the Roman Gods, but something didn't feel right looking at the rest. "What's that on the sides?"

"Ah…" he ran a hand through his hair. "Nothing important."

"Kol. You wanted me to see this. Tell me."

Sighing, he looked up. "That's the God Neptune who's wedding Amphitrite and on the other side… That's the Goddess Proserpina who's being seized by the God of the Underworld."

She looked at him, blinked at his choice of words. "You could say rape, you know. My mother wasn't raped. She was in service willingly."

"But you never were willingly in the service," he pointed out.

"I never told you that!" Myriam hissed as her nails dug into his arm, eyes glancing around the room with rising suspicion. "And I wasn't in any service!"

"But you were a woman alone, travelling from Nice to Spain. By yourself. Young. Surely men took what they wanted from you when you weren't willing," he calmly explained to her. "I know that rape can be a sensitive subject."

"Not to me! So don't you baby me when it comes to that, do you understand?" she furiously replied as she let go of him and walked out of the ballroom, Myriam needed to calm herself down, take a deep breath and collect herself before she'd do something irreversible. And somehow, she couldn't help but find a strange parallel between herself and Proserpina, although Kol never took anything from her that she hadn't offered.

Her knowledge of the Roman Gods was slim, but she knew that Proserpina had to do something with the underworld and Kol basically was the underworld or something similar. Kol's words of 'what happened in the past is bound to repeat itself' echoing through her mind.

How could she allow herself to get so worked up over something as insignificant as this? Yes, men took what she didn't want to give to them, but she had resigned her fate and was now feeling ambivalent about it, it happened, and she got over it. She had adapted by being the first to ask for something and then give them payment; the enjoyment of her body. It felt less dirty that way.

She found herself circling the fountain in the garden, her fists balled to her side as she tried to release the tension in her body and to quieten the war inside her mind. She was here for a purpose, and she was getting distracted.

"Veronique?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Veronique?" An unfamiliar voice asked quietly, causing Myriam to snap around to the man. "Oh, my apologies, milady, I was mistaken. I saw you pacing, just as she would, around this same fountain. Sometimes I wonder…"

So this man was her father? What a pitiful excuse of a man! He was fat, his hair was receding, and that beard of his looked hideous. But then again, wealthy people could look whatever they wanted to look like. It was money that was the attraction in most cases. "Who was she? You speak of her as if she's to be missed."

"Oh, it is nothing to talk about to a stranger," he smiled kindly at her.

"I have nothing better to do than to listen, good sir," she replied with a slight curtsy as she pointed at one of the benches in the garden. "Sometimes it does one good to lighten the heart into the ears of a stranger."

The man let out a breath and nodded. "Perhaps you're right. Are you certain?"

"My lord, you are a master of this house, are you not? You can do whatever you wish," she replied as she sat down on the bench and held out her hand. Oh, while she never had her mother's training, her mother had, of course, taught her a few things about men and the rules in royal homes. Perhaps her mother had been training her in case that one day, she'd be swept away to serve herself and had wanted to make the transition less of a burden.

Myriam, of course, never wanted this life for herself. She preferred to march to her own drum.

The man took her hand and sat down next to her. "Veronique was my favourite courtesan, many years ago," he replied as he looked at her. "I'm sorry, perhaps this is not the best subject to discuss with a lovely lady as yourself."

"It's flattering that you believe I'm a lovely lady, my lord," she smiled at him. "But I'm in service of someone present at your lovely ball. There is nothing that I haven't seen or heard before." If this man was still so very smitten by her mother, then why hadn't he come looking for her, and his child? She could smell a little bit of alcohol on his breath, perhaps that was the reason why he was so… sentimental. "Please continue, perhaps it will do you some good."

"Veronique was a beautiful woman, kind, big-hearted and no task was too hard for her. She worked her way up the ranks and when she became my courtesan, my favourite, I could not help but spoil her and to spend every single minute of every day with her," he smiled, slightly blushing. "Members of my family were quite jealous, she didn't have it easy."

"I bet," Myriam smiled kindly, but deep inside, she wanted to crush this man's skull with her bare hands. Unfortunately, she wasn't that strong of her own. She could feel one of her amulets burn against her chest and after quickly looking at it, she wasn't surprised. It was a son of Azazel, the god or demon of war, depending on who you'd ask. She allowed him out as not to burn a hole in her chest but kept him back so he could watch.

"What's that on your chest, milady?"

"Oh," she let out a nervous laugh. "I forgot that the material doesn't agree with my body sometimes, it's nothing to worry about, my lord. Please, tell me more about your beloved Veronique," she put a hand on his knee and squeezed it for encouragement.

"She had beautiful dark hair, eyes, and skin. She looked like an exotic princess. A lot like yourself, but your skin is fairer than hers. Like yourself, she had a beautiful face and a great posture. She was a dream come true. I was married, of course, and for a while, my wife and Veronique got along quite well. But my wife and I were trying for another child, which would be our last, but the Gods weren't in our favour. Instead, Veronique fell pregnant."

"I can't imagine that went well with your wife." She didn't know whether to be happy or to be angry at the fact that she was the youngest. Relieved, maybe?

"We kept it hidden for as long as we could, I promised Veronique I'd find a way to leave my wife for her, but when the family found out, they sent her away while I was out of town for business," he sighed, shaking his head. "Ever since she left, there's been a hole in my heart, and my wife and children weren't able to fill it."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Myriam replied as she could see the guilt and grief written all over him.

"I have a painting of her, would you like to see?"

"I'd like that, yes," she smiled at him. Anything to get one last glimpse of her mother. Anything. She followed him to his private bedroom where her mother's portrait was hanging above the fireplace. She looked absolutely beautiful, and she could now see why Kol wanted her to wear the dress that she was wearing and why her hair had to be exactly like this. Myriam looked like a cheap copy of her mother's greatness, enough to get her father to bite and for her to reel him in. "You're right," she said in but a whisper, trying not to allow the tears that were pricking behind her eyes. "She is beautiful."

"Yes," he sighed happily. "Sometimes I do wonder what happened to her. Where she is now and if she's doing alright."

"And what of the child, my lord? Aren't you curious to your offspring?"

"My child," he huffed. "Would be a half breed. Son or daughter of a Medici and a whore. Had Veronique been allowed to stay I would have raised the child as my own but no, I never wondered about my progeny. I've had my hands full with those I already have."

Myriam balled her fists again, silently commanding her demon to take a few steps closer to oppress the man somewhat. "I can tell you exactly what happened to Veronique du Mer," she said as she looked at the man. "She's dead. She died in poverty from consumption. Nearly four years ago now."

"And how do you know this, milady?"

She took a step closer so that the firelight lit her face more. "You can see it with your own eyes. You saw it already and dismissed it, perhaps in denial. You already know who I am!"

The man looked at her in shock. "No!"

"Yes," she angrily said as she motioned for her demon to take possession of her father. "Get his family in here. Now!" she commanded him and watched at the demon marched her father out of the bedroom. Kol was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorpost with a cocky smile on his face. "You orchestrated this!"

"I did," he said as he watched the demon father pass him as he didn't exist and entered the bedroom. "As I told you, you plan, you anticipate, and you're patient," he said as he took the painting of her mother down. "We're taking this, I assume?"

"You assume correctly," she said as she started to look around for things that she could throw in the fireplace. To, somehow, diminish her father's wealth. "He never even looked for her! For me!" she cried out loudly as she kicked over a bucket. "He professes his love for my mother, but he never went and looked for us!"

She grabbed five of her amulets and unleashed all five demons. "Create as much panic and mayhem as you wish," she commanded. "Let the blood flow freely!"

"Uh, darling?" Kol piped up, slightly turned on by Myriam's behaviour. "Can I make a small request?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Have them take out the resident witch? I wasn't aware of her during my initial exploration of this palace, but it seems like they have a tiny witch on hand and she's about to mess with our little visit."

Myriam scowled as she quickly approached the vampire. "What do you speak of? Surely you can take out a witch on your own with your wealth of knowledge. Why do you need my demons for that?"

"Because she's being protected by five vampire hunters," he replied. "Ones that were created by magic and that if you'd kill them, you'd get mad for a very long time. Niklaus suffered through the curse for fifty years, and I won't like it to be me next."

She could not help but let out a small laugh. "Vampire hunters? Is it even possible for a vampire to go insane? That would certainly make for an interesting study," she mused as she glanced away thoughtfully. Shrugging, she sighed. "Very well. I'll have them take care of your little hunters and protect poor Monsieur Mikaelson. I will make sure you won't be scratched."

"Darling, they're no joke!"

"I heard you. You're terrified of them. I'm intrigued. I'd like to see them for myself to see what you are so excitable over. And take anything that isn't pinned down that we may be able to sell for some gold."

"We only have a small carriage."

"I don't care!" Myriam blurted. "We're taking things! You promised me! I can take what I want!"

"I did say that…" Kol ran a hand through his hair as he quickly thought of a solution. "Okay, curse the entire family, have them leave this place. I'll compel everyone who's not in the family and currently merely visiting and then we'll find the ownership papers of this home and find a lawyer somewhere tomorrow to sign the entire, freaking estate over to you! A bloody palace for a bloody princess and perhaps even more properties all across the continent!" he responded. "But for god's sake, darling, kill those hunters before they kill us!"

Myriam pursed her lips as she leaned against a chaise in the room as she eyed the vampire. "You are aware that you are no fun when you are upset. Yes?"

"There is a reason I'm upset!" He moved to one side of the room as demon father walked in with his family. "Please."

She smiled at him, shifting her attention to her family. "There may be more supernatural creatures visiting. Ones that are not a part of our agreement," she spoke to her demons. "Any witch, or creature of magic, that is not myself or my pet vampire here, I want you to destroy them."

Kol growled. "I'm not your pet, Darling."

"Oh, you truly are with the way you're behaving now!" She released two more of her demons and kept one with her for protection as she looked at her father's wife and three sons. "Hello, I'm your baby sister," she smiled deviously. "Father never bothered to look for me, or my mother, so instead, I came looking for you."

"If you're here for money, we don't respond well to threats!" The oldest son threatened her, causing Myriam to walk up to him and pulled him down to her level. "Let go of me!"

She estimated his age and grinned as she clutched her remaining amulet that held a demon in it, she could feel its energy flowing through her. "In the name of the dark Mother Hecate, I curse you, and your progeny for eternity. You shall find misfortune wherever you turn, and everything you touch will turn into dust." She repeated that a few times before placing the man's hand on his brother's shoulder who immediately dried out and crumbled on the floor, to dust.

She then turned to the youngest brother, grabbing him tightly by the hair. "In the name of the dark Mother Hecate, I curse you and your progeny for eternity. Your spouses will die fifteen years after baring you a child. One, and only one. Even when you'll surround yourself with multiple spouses, you'll only get the one child. I curse you."

Myriam then turned to Kol as she sought contact with her demons who were doing as they were told. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

"Eat her," she said as she pointed at the woman.

"Really?"

"Why should I have all the fun?" Myriam smirked as she then turned to her father, who was still possessed by her demon while the woman screamed when Kol sunk his teeth into her. "And you. You should have done better. I invoke the Dark Mother Hecate to curse you and your brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins and other generations of Medici. Your luck has run out. The moment you set foot outside this building, you will be chased by angry mobs of people. Forever, until you and your entire family dies. Everything you own is mine and will always be mine. Set foot in any of my property and you shall burn. I curse you!"

Bella then addressed the demon inside her father. "You will stay with him until he dies. You will report to me every month. You're going to have them sign everything over to Veronique du Mer and her children and keep the papers on this premises until I come back to get them. Once he dies, you will protect those papers. Have I made myself understood?"

"Yes mistress, I'll do this gladly for you. Can my brethren stay with me?"

"Once they're done, they can stay here and protect this palace," she nodded before looking at Kol, she was surprised he wasn't done yet. "Anything else, Kol?"

He dropped the body on the floor and wiped his mouth. The feeding had taken his mind off of the hunters, but only for a little while. "How are your demons doing?"

"They're dead, your big bad hunters and that witch. They did find another vampire, though, want to meet her?"

"Her?"

"Oh yes," Myriam smiled as she took her painting with her and looped her arm through Kol's. "She's trying to escape, and right now my demons are cornering her and ushering her into the ballroom."

"Really now? Oh, darling, we could use her for target practice for your magical abilities," he said all happy. "But did you know, I can compel other vampires? I could have her help me compel the rest of the guests to get them out of your palace."

"Really? You never told me you could do that."

"Ah, that's one of the perks of being an Original vampire, darling, we can compel the non-Original ones!"

"Well then, let's go and check out that vampire, perhaps she'll be able to provide us with some entertainment once you're done with the guests."

The vampire was screaming to fight whatever was chasing her and Myriam ordered her demons to poke her to see if she'd scream louder, her screams filling the ballroom along with those of the guests running out of the ballroom because of the commotion. "Catch them before they leave, I'll entertain her for a bit," Myriam said as she gently pat him on his shoulder. "And feed when you have to, I mean, take what you want, right?" She watched him go after the fleeing horde of people and how he used his speed to compel the most of them, before entering the ballroom. "Shut your mouth already!" Myriam demanded as she looked at the frightened vampire. Myriam was taller. The vampire had dark brown hair, which was messy right now but there were certainly some curls in there that weren't natural, and her face was truly ashen. "Well done boys," she smiled at her demons. "Care to stick around?"

"Her fear feeds us, lady Myriam, thank you."

"Ah, stay then, feed!" She grinned as she approached the girl vampire. One of her demons was holding her back so that she wouldn't hurt Myriam. "What's your name then?"

"None of your business!"

She nodded then, causing the closest demon to use his energy to influence the vampire even further. "What's your name?"

"Go to hell!"

"Oh, _ma puce_ ," Myriam sighed as she squatted down to look at the vampire with a smile on her face. "I don't need to go to hell, I bring hell with me. Now, tell me your name. I'm not going to ask again."

"Go to hell!"

Myriam got back to her feet and decided to try a spell on her that Kol had taught her. She reached out with her hand and imagined squeezing a heart. It was the intent that gave a spell power, words mattered, but the intent was the most important and all Myriam wanted right now was to hurt someone.

The vampire was screaming again, and Myriam just smiled as she watched the vampire clutch her heart.

"Did you just call our guest a flea?" Kol asked as he walked into the ballroom, the vampire obstructed from his view because of Myriam blocking it.

"Yes, because she's not telling me her name," she said as she turned to Kol and seeing him at all levels of being dishevelled, covered in blood. "Couldn't you at least have fed normally? Or cleaned yourself up?"

"Why bother, darling?" He countered happily before looking at the vampire. "Oh, but I know her! She's Niklaus' little plaything! Or she was before she turned herself into a vampire and ran off! Hello Katerina."

"Oh great," Katerina said with a strangled voice as Myriam was still clutching her heart with her spell. "It's the maniac."

Myriam gave Katerina's heart another squeeze. "How did this bitch become your brother's plaything?"

"I told you about the curse, didn't I?" Kol asked as he joined his witch' side. "It requires the blood of a doppelganger, and this one here was a doppelganger of the one that the curse was bound with. Elijah had a perfect exit strategy for her, he would be able to save Katerina's life, but she had other plans. She got her hands on vampire blood and killed herself. Niklaus would love her head on a silver platter for her betrayal."

Myriam's eyes grew dark then. She didn't know Kol's brother, she had never met him, but betrayal was never right. "Target practice it is," she said darkly, releasing the vampire from her grasp. "Can you compel her to cluck like a chicken?"

"Unfortunately… the rumour goes that Katerina has been ingesting Vervain ever since she turned to make sure that she wouldn't be able to get compelled."

Myriam looked at him before looking at Katerina in disgust. "Well then… let's see if my pets can clear her system from that…"

"Darling, you don't need your pets to torture her. Use your magic, she's not going anywhere!"

"No!"

"Use your magic, stop relying on your pets!"

"It's what I'm good at!"

"Exactly! They're _toi doudou!_ "

"Take that back!"

"Doudou!"

Myriam growled as she took a step closer to him. "Take that back!"

"Dou. Dou." Kol laughed. "You already used some magic on her, do it again! It's not that hard!"

"Lady Myriam," the demon that was holding Katerina down was trying to get her attention. "She is wearing me out."

"Then switch places," Myriam snapped. "We're not done here yet!"

"Yes, we are," Kol used his vampire speed to get all of her amulets off of her and broke them all, releasing the demons in the process.

" _Cochon!_ " Myriam slapped him in the face. "How dare you taking away my pets! You wouldn't touch them, you said!"

"Darling, Katerina is getting away, what are you going to do about it?"

She narrowed her eyes at him as her hand shot out in the direction of Katerina and made a yanking motion, causing the vampire to slide back on her ass. "Happy?" she snapped at him.

"Ah, you can do better than that, how about inflicting some damage?"

"I'd like to keep my palace in the same condition we found it in."

Kol nodded. "A little bit too late, darling as your fountain is now spouting out blood instead of water."

Myriam scowled as she magically pulled Katerina along with her towards the garden while the vampire struggled against the invisible rope and being unable to scream before Myriam used her magic to throw her into the fountain and held her down. Liking the way the vampire kicked up the red water for a very long time before nothing. The monster had drowned.

Sighing, Myriam sat down on one of the benches in silence as she looked at the fountain.

"That's it?"

"Shut up," she pouted. "I ruined my dress!"

He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "You know, darling, if you weren't such a talented witch with extreme potential that I like to spend time with, you'd make a cute little devious vampire that I'd certainly love to hang around with."

"My dress."

"Then take it off," he shrugged. "This is your home now, remember, you can do anything you want."

"I want Florence to drown in blood. No, I want the entirety of Tuscany to drown in blood. I want you to pay for taking away my pets!"

"Oh, hold on," he held up his hands. "I only released one," he said as he pulled the amulets out of his pocket. "I had to push you over the edge somehow. And I am sorry, but you know that I am right. You are hiding behind your demons while you're perfectly capable of doing magic. You can do more damage with your magic than your pets."

"I see that now," she said as she took the amulets. "But I still like my pets, and it already hurts that most of them are staying here to protect the property."

"Alright, let's go home. We'll get cleaned up, gather our stuff and head back home, what do you say?"

She nodded before using her magic to drag the unconscious Katerina out of the bloodied water. Myriam then focused as she pulled another demon out of the other dimension and bound it to her necklace, one that looked to be made with a lapis lazuli gemstone, just like Kol's daylight ring. Katerina would never take it off if she didn't want to burn in the sunlight. "I command you to keep an eye on Katerina. You will not influence her in any way, but you will stay with her until I call for you. Understood?"

"Yes, milady."

"Thank you," she said to the demon before snapping Katerina's neck and stepped over her on her way to the exit. "Where's my painting? Because that thing is coming with."

"It's already in the carriage, darling. Now, if I were you, I'd cast a little spell to revoke all access to this palace for vampires, it would clean her out on her own. And me, but I hope to be outside before you cast it."

"No, the demons will take care of her. And of any trespasser, vampire or not. Perhaps when I return someday, I might, for my own protection, but until then, my demons will handle things."

"Alright," he said as he guided her towards the carriage. "Did you have fun, darling?"

"Best ball ever! Can we do that again someday?"

~o.O.o~

Myriam was careful indeed when picking the Vervain on their way back to Spain. She hung it on one side of the carriage to dry out the leaves faster and had made a tea from it. Kol stayed well clear of it, but he was surprised that she didn't think the tea was disgusting. Vervain was a very acquired taste. By the time they crossed into France, she had collected all of her herbs for her powerful protection tea.

Kol believed it was time. If he was going to introduce her to his family and hopefully have his siblings take her in as she so desperately craved for a family, she needed to be even more protected, be ready for contingencies. Such as accidentally turning. In a family like his, you'd never know who'd throw a temper tantrum. He produced a page he had torn out of one of the grimoires he had found in the library in Florence and handed it to her.

"What is this?"

"It's everything you need to make daylight rings or amulets," he explained. "For vampires to use, but mostly for your own protection. I want to introduce you to my family."

"Ah, fickle vampires."

"Yes," he let out a small chuckle. "My sister Rebekah can get quite jealous and go into a blind rage. My brother Niklaus has anger issues and me? For some reason my family makes me want to kill all the bloody time, and I'm not sure if I can contain myself around them."

"But what if I don't want to be a vampire?"

"You can still make use of your demons, darling. As a demonologist you won't need magic to do so, the power is in your belief, intent, and words," he reminded her. "And you don't have to be a vampire, not if you don't want to, but should something happen and you'd turn, I'd love it if you'd make the transition so we can have more parties together."

"Can I think about that?"

"Of course, but I still want you to start making these for yourself. At least to have them to hand them to vampires who don't have them yet. They'll be loyal to you for giving them the gift of freedom, to walk in the sun, and they'll protect you from other supernatural beings."

"Like my pets."

"Yes, but more tangible. I don't want to leave you unprotected. Therefore, the next carriage we'll pass, I'll kill the inhabitants, and you'll get their jewellery to play with. We can pick up the gemstones in Nice."

"Nice? I don't think I am ready to go back home yet, Kol."

"Then you'll stay on the outskirts while I get you the stones," he kissed her hand. "But the sooner you have those trinkets, the better."

She nodded then and let out a breath as she read the paper. "Should be easy enough, right?"

"Yes. I believe it won't take you long to master it and when you do, I want to teach you how to create dark objects. Also for your protection."

She looked at him and felt that something was off. "Why are you all about me needing to protect myself all of a sudden? Are you going somewhere? Are you leaving me?"

"No, darling, don't you fret," he smiled at her and kissed her. "I merely want you to be able to protect yourself in every way possible when we go and meet my siblings. No doubt what happened in Florence has gotten round to them, and it's likely they won't be happy about it. My brothers are stronger than I am so your pets won't do much to them unless you get stronger ones."

"That's not without danger."

"I know, hence I want to teach you how to make dark objects, and have you use your natural magic so you can protect yourself."

"And you."

"Ah, don't worry about me, darling, I'm used to being the black sheep of the family! They'll adore you!"


	4. Chapter 4

It felt as if years of knowledge had suddenly been crammed into her head on their way to Spain and if it hadn't been for their frequent sexual escapades, she wouldn't have been able to deal with it all. She had also made a new mini army of demons on their way over to Spain, after having left all of them occupied in Italy.

She had taken a handful of creepy looking dolls in Marseille and had attached her demons to them, just to unnerve Kol, and it was hilarious. Ever since Marseille, the dolls were at one side of the carriage, and she and Kol were on the other, and for some reason, Kol felt as if the toys were staring at him at all time. It was fun. A lot of fun.

Of course, during sex, she'd put the dolls away because even that was going too far for her.

She wasn't nervous about meeting Kol's family. If anything, after all the stories he told her, she was more than curious about Klaus and Rebekah. She wasn't sure about Elijah yet, because Kol had told conflicting stories about him. One of him being a fountain of knowledge, and other stories about him being an absolute stick in the mud and needing to control everything, including his siblings.

But she was so happy to be able to get out of the carriage without having to get back in again that she happily jumped out of it and released the horses herself. "Go run, friends, you deserve it! Make some whoopee, build a family!"

"Those were good horses!" Kol complained.

"And they served us well!" Myriam countered. "They deserve to be free. That's what I do with all my pets who served me well. Except for you. I can't seem to get rid of you!"

"Ha!" Kol barked out a laugh. "Fat chance, darling. Leave your belongings inside, we'll get someone to take your bits and bobs to our room."

"Our room?" she blinked at him. "Our room?" she repeated, a bit more force behind her words. "Excuse me, but just because we're having sex doesn't mean we need to share a room!"

"Yes, our room. Until I'm certain that my siblings won't try to kill you. It's not every day that I'm bringing someone home to meet my family. A wonderful lady, at that."

"Lady?" Myriam shook her head. "I am no lady!"

"I know that. Your farts smell terrible, and you stink up the carriage when you do it! Ladies don't fart!"

"Dried blood stinks worse! I told you time and time again, to be discrete and careful of your clothes, but noooooo. Seriously, tie a napkin around your neck! How hard can it be?!"

Frustrated, Kol pushed her towards the closed door. "How about I bite down your breast and use you like a wet nurse?"

"I'm on vervain," she winked at him. "I'd like to see you try!"

The door opened then, revealing what looked like one of Kol's brothers. "Brother, you finally made it home," he greeted him.

"Darling, meet Elijah, Elijah, meet… her. She refuses to give me her name."

"Interesting," he said as he gently took her hand and kissed it. "Come, you must be weary of your journey."

"Ah, another Mikaelson with impeccable manners," she said as she withdrew her hand and stayed close to Kol. "Tell me, are you a messy feeder as well?"

A small smile danced on Elijah's lips then. "I assure you that Kol is in a class of his own."

"I thought so," she said as she had her hand on one of her amulets around her neck. While yes, her dolls in the carriage were possessed, she still carried one or two demons with her on her person. "You're not even surprised he brought someone home?"

"There is no doubt that you'll end up as his next meal," Elijah replied. "My apologies, for being so blunt, miss. But Kol's conquests don't last very long."

"Good thing I'm not a miss nor a conquest then," she said as she looped her arm through Kol's. Elijah was incredibly unnerving to her senses.

"Wait!" a girl squealed from one of the rooms they passed, and a blonde head popped out. "You're married?!"

"Oh hell no," Myriam shook her head. "I'm merely saying I'm not a miss. Nor a lady. I'm no angel. Not anymore."

"She's a vampire at heart, believe me," Kol said to his sister. "Rebekah, meet her. Darling, this is my sister Rebekah."

"Her name is 'her'?"

"No," Myriam smirked. "I just never felt he was worthy enough to know my name. Not yet, anyway."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow then. "For my brother to have kept you alive you must be quite special."

"Who says she's not keeping me alive?" Kol blinked at his sister. "Honestly, Bekah, I do know how to treat people just fine."

Another door opened, and a man with dirty blond hair and beautiful blue eyes peeked out but didn't say anything. Myriam thought he was even more handsome than Kol. There was something about him that made her heart beat just a little bit faster.

"How did you two meet?" Rebekah asked curiously.

"Oh, he kidnapped me," Myriam nodded.

"What!" Kol exclaimed in shock. "You kidnapped me, first! And my kidnapping was a lot more gentle than what you had planned for me!"

"True," she shrugged. "But I am kidnapped. He's not willing to let me go."

"That is ridiculous," Rebekah huffed as she hit her brother on the arm. "Why aren't you willing to let her go?!"

"She doesn't want to go, and once you get to know her properly, you'll want her to stay as well. For the last year and a half, I've been teaching her all I know, including English because one thing that I do know about her is that she's French. She is not a mere witch, she's special."

"I hate that word, special," Myriam scowled as she let go of Kol and started to explore the home on her own while the siblings talked amongst themselves. It was fine if they talked about her, as long as she wasn't around to hear it. As she explored, she found another library that was at least the same size as in the Mikaelson home in Florence, and a study that overlooked the vineyards outside. It had some art supplies laying around and whoever was the painter in the family was quite the talent.

Looking at the portraits hanging on the wall, she couldn't help but notice a familiar technique used on the painting that was in her possession and currently still on the carriage. Angry, Myriam marched back to Kol with her eyes narrowed at him. "You knew all along!"

"Excuse me?"

She walked outside to the carriage, took the painting off of the luggage rack and walked right back in with it. "Someone in this house painted this! You knew!"

"Darling, I did tell you that Niklaus and Elijah were at the court of Medici two hundred years ago."

"She wasn't alive two hundred years ago!"

Rebekah just smiled as she watched the girl go off on her brother and he was taking it. Elijah had paled just a little, and when her eye caught the painting, she could see why. "My brothers tend to keep their political allies close, and introduce themselves to every new generation to continue their business, their protection."

"Speaking of the Medici family, Kol, were you in Florence a couple of months back?"

"Uh," he said impishly.

Myriam turned her eyes on him as her hand reached up to grasp her necklace.

"I honestly can't remember, she and I have had so much fun over the last year and a half…"

"But that painting was in Florence," Elijah pointed out. "Niklaus gifted it to one of the brothers who remained at home."

Myriam glared back at the senior vampire. "I do not know what your business is with those _cochons_ but it is terminated and someone new has taken over."

"There is not a family left to do business with, mademoiselle," Elijah replied calmly. "I received word that there had been trouble and when I went to investigate I came into an empty house, rotting bodies on a pile, a fountain of blood and some ashes in one of the bedrooms. There was no Medici in sight."

She appeared unfazed but perhaps a little proud. "I did enjoy that fountain."

"So it was you!" Rebekah said to her brother.

"It wasn't me! Well, some of the bodies were, but it wasn't me!"

"It was not him. It was myself, though I did give him permission to feed on some. Impressive, no?"

Elijah's jaw fell on the floor as he looked between his youngest brother and his witch before he collected himself and looked at the young woman. "Do you have any idea what you did?"

"She was likely taking her revenge, brother," the unnamed brother finally left his door and joined his family and the girl with the painting. "I remember painting this woman, Veronique. She was a very valued member of the Medici court when we visited last. I heard stories about her being dismissed upon falling pregnant with one of the Medici's and no one has ever heard of her or her offspring since."

"She's dead," Myriam replied solemnly. "She died of consumption nearly 4 years ago, leaving me alone after it claimed the lives of our friends and family."

"I am truly sorry to hear that, love. Your mother was quite an amazing woman," he smiled kindly before extending his hand. "Klaus Mikaelson."

She took his hand and shook it. "Pleasure. My name is Myriam."

"That it?" Kol said surprised, not believing what he was hearing. "That's it? That's all it took?! I went a year and a half not knowing your name and my brother telling you a story about some painting is what did the trick?!"

"Not some painting!" Myriam shot at him. "And unlike yourself, your brother feels like he can be trusted blindly. With you, you never know what you get! Those are your words, not mine!"

"I like her," Rebekah smirked as she took Myriam's hand. "Come, let me find you a room. Don't worry ducky, you've survived Kol for a year and a half, no one's going to hurt you."

"Oh, I have no concerns about that," Myriam replied as she smiled at her. "But he was worried."

"Of course he would be. No one he's ever brought home lasted very long, but you've endured him for longer than most," Rebekah replied as she opened the spare bedroom. "This one is the only one not taken, but if you prefer to have Kol's bedroom that's on the other side of this one, I'm sure he wouldn't mind switching."

Myriam looked around. It was more than just a bedroom. It had a desk, a bookcase, a luxurious bed and enough space for her to move around. Her creepy dolls could sit in a corner. There were paintings on the wall, and there was a beautiful view of the village below. "Oh, don't bother, I can sleep everywhere," she eventually said, although she was quite hesitant.

While she had been in more fancy homes, including the Mikaelson family home in Florence, and other elegant homes along their way back, she had never taken the time to get used to it. It was bed, sex and sleep for the most part. If she was going to stay here for a while, she wasn't quite sure how she'd be able to keep up the pretence that this wasn't too much.

"Are you sure?" Rebekah asked. "Because the other side of the house has a much better view!"

"I'm sure," Myriam replied with a smile. "I'll get my belongings from the carriage. You don't mind dolls, do you?"

"Yes!" Kol could be heard from the hallway. "I do mind! Those things have been staring at us since Marseille!"

"Kol adores them, really," Myriam smiled as Rebekah followed her towards the carriage and got one of her dolls out. "See?"

"Darling, are you feeling well? That doll looks quite unnerving?"

"Ah, they're harmless, I promise," she put a few in her bag and carried the rest. "If you do see one that you like, you can have it? A token of my appreciation for your warm welcome."

"Oh, I can't."

"Too creepy, huh?" Myriam smiled at her. "How about one of my necklaces? Don't you think they're pretty?"

"Darling, I can have anything I want, you can keep your trinkets," Rebekah eventually said as she followed Myriam back into her room. "In all honesty, the dolls look unclean. Dirty. Broken. Doesn't quite fit the decor of this house."

Myriam had to agree with that, but that didn't matter, there were plenty of trinkets in her room that she could transfer her pets into and Kol wouldn't even know. Perhaps until she would get rid of the dolls, but even then he'd have a hard time sussing out where they were. For all he'd know was that she released them. It was an excellent idea.

"How about I give you some time to settle in?" Rebekah smiled at her. "Feel free to have a look around the property and give a shout when you get lost, one of us will be able to find you."

~o.O.o~

"It is impossible for a normal witch to have that kind of destructive power," Elijah said as he was sitting in the sitting room with his siblings. "Are you sure that the only thing you've done was to feed on some of them?"

"Yes, Elijah," Kol replied with a sigh, repeating what he had said before. "She is quite something. She's intelligent, and there is no doubt in my mind that she can be an excellent manipulator. She's powerful and a quick study. She spoke perfect English within five months. The speed that she picks up new information, new spells, is incredible, but her magic is dark. Very dark."

"Fascinating," Elijah replied. "I imagine you've taught her all of your tricks?"

"I taught her how to protect herself better in case something happens to me."

"Now what would happen to you?"

"Oh, I don't know, Nik, you lot could decide to dagger me again!"

Elijah released a frustrated sigh. "Kol. How do you know that she hasn't manipulated you to get to our family? Perhaps a plant by our father to lower our defences as I'm sure he's aware of your affinity for witches."

Kol sighed. "When we first met, she didn't even know what vampires were. That she disturbed me while I was feeding. I'm a messy eater, and I like my screamers, so she believed that I was taking advantage of a young lady like herself. She took me to the cabin she was staying at, not using her magic as she had a fundamental understanding of it, but she used… other skills. When she realised that she was in trouble with me around, she snapped my neck and ran."

"Again, that could be a ploy."

"Let me finish, Elijah," Kol rolled his eyes at his brother. "I chased her and saved her from some angry farmer she was using the stables of for herself and her horse. The horse didn't make it. It took her six months to open up to me about her life, her mother. She had this trinket belonging to the Medici family so I suggested we'd go on a trip to see daddy dearest and I promised her I'd continue teaching her as long as she didn't hurt me. And as long as I didn't do anything to hurt her, she wouldn't do that."

"You can't tell me that she didn't get on your nerves, brother," Rebekah said as she sat down in her chair. "Besides, she's a witch, she's mortal. You could have killed her easily."

"But I didn't want her to leave, and as long as she didn't want to leave, things were alright," Kol replied with a smile on his face. "We passed a field of vervain, and she loved the colour of it, decided to frolic around in the field and bring a bundle back to spruce up our carriage. You should have seen the look on her face when she hurt me. It broke my heart."

"Sounds to me as if she's a good actress."

"Elijah, I've spent the last year and a half with her. Every day. Every night. No actress is that good. Besides, if Father would have planted her, he would have chosen someone who wasn't as poor as she was. He'd choose someone clean, well mannered and easy going. While she's clean now and can have manners, she's anything but. Father would have chosen someone who's able to be compelled."

"She's not easy going? She's a challenge for you, Kol!"

"It's a game of survival, Elijah." he shot at his brother. "For three years she travelled from Nice to Spain to get to a port in the hopes of gaining entry on a ship that would take her to the New World. To start her life over. She's one tough cookie who hasn't known kindness in a very long time. Mikael wouldn't go for her, in fact, if he were smart, he'd stay well clear of her because I believe she does have the ability to kill him."

Klaus had been silent to that point, listening about their new house guest and looked up in interest from his glass of bourbon. "Then perhaps we should utilise her skills should he come our way. What is it exactly she can do?"

"That's not going to be easy, Nik," Kol replied. "She won't allow herself to be used, trust me, I've tried. However, you could try reason with her. We encountered someone in Florence that is a part of our history, and when I told her that, she was more than willing to do something so that she always knows what she's up to."

"Tracking spells are not uncommon unless she took the individual's blood, Kol," Elijah replied, bored of the subject.

"She doesn't need spells to protect herself or others. In fact, through her actions, she killed the new Hunters of the Five, and she hasn't gone mad because of it."

Klaus' head turned in the direction of the guest room, curiosity piqued in his eyes. "That pretty thing killed the Five on her own?"

"With a little help of her pets, who stayed behind in the house in Florence."

"I've heard these pets mentioned a time or two," Rebekah frowned. "What are they exactly?"

"Myriam is a demonologist. She summons demons and attaches them to objects. Commands them to do her bidding, and she releases them when they have served her well."

Elijah ran a hand over his face, realising that what they were housing was undoubtedly well beyond their element. Meanwhile, Klaus' smile grew as he held his glass up to his lips. "We shall make certain she is as comfortable as she pleases. I certainly have no intentions of standing in the way of her dreams of the New World. Certainly, we can finance that if she could help us should we need it someday, hm?"

"She doesn't work that way, Nik, and might I suggest you tread carefully when it comes to her? She will use everything she knows for harm if something doesn't go the way that she wants it to go. Trust is to be earned, both ways, I understand that. But I trust her, and she trusts me. We've worked hard on earning our mutual trust. For her to give you her name like that… she must be attracted to you. Even when I told stories about my family, she wanted to know about you all. And you don't know her. Get to know her before you ask for a favour. That's all I ask."

"Of course we have to use her against Mikael!" Rebekah cried out. "If she's able to take him away then we could finally live our lives in peace!"

"Rebekah," Kol shook his head. "I've contemplated asking her, especially since we went after her own father, but Mikael is something entirely different. She has her own way of looking at things. Please, get to know her the way that I have, and you'll come to the conclusion that it's not in our place to ask."

Klaus stared at the wall of books in the room they were in, lost in thought. "I do not believe we have any prints on demonology. It would be a fascinating field to learn more of, I think."

Kol gave him a disbelieving scoff. "Don't be so sure of yourself. I won't put it past her if she has one of her little demons in here spying on this conversation and reporting back to her."

"So she doesn't trust you," Elijah pointed out.

"No, she doesn't trust you," he countered with a sigh. "Give her some time to acclimate to her new surroundings and then get to know her," he then rose to his feet. "I'm going to check in on her, see if she needs anything."

Rebekah's face scrunched up. "But she wouldn't give you her name? I don't understand."

"As I said before, sister, we have a mutual understanding. As long as I don't hurt her, she won't hurt me."

"Perhaps I'll join you," Klaus offered, setting his glass down. "She appeared to like me. Maybe I can start a rapport with her."

Kol shrugged then as he walked to Myriam's bedroom and found her sitting in the middle of a circle of her creepy dolls. "Did you learn anything fascinating, darling?" He asked playfully.

A smile appeared on her face as she opened her eyes. "I'm not particularly fond of your brother."

"Which one?"

"The one that's not here," she replied as she rose to her feet. "My apologies, it's perhaps rude of me to instruct one of my demons to eavesdrop."

Kol smirked as he glanced at Klaus. "I expected as much. I just thought I'd be the smart one to come and tell you everything in person."

"I'm alright with you talking about me when I'm not in the room," she replied. "I merely wanted to gauge the responses. Perhaps it would be best if I would find a different place to stay?"

"Nonsense," Klaus spoke up as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room. "My family is naturally cautious when it comes to strangers in our home, especially when said stranger has formed a bond with our youngest brother."

"I understand. You believe Kol's unreliable and wild, but in all honesty, that's not how I got to know him. He managed to reign himself in quite well over the last year and a half," Myriam replied. "But I imagine you might be frightened by what I can do. I promise you unless I'm threatened or hurt, I'm not using my magic or my pets to protect myself. You have my word."

"And I believe that. See? There's no reason for you to find an alternative place of residence," he told her. "And as we've said before, you're free to roam the property. There's no need for you to stay in this room."

"I'll come out when I want to, thank you, _mon LouLou_ ," she smiled at him before sitting back down in the middle of her circle of dolls. She didn't miss it that Klaus winced at her choice of nickname for him. And that pleased her greatly.

"Oh, I see how it goes," Kol rolled his eyes at his friend. "He gets your name and a nickname on the same day!"

Myriam merely smiled at him, knowing that her silence unnerved him greatly.

He relented with a sigh. "We're still having sex tonight!"

Myriam shook her head and used her magic to push Kol out of the room gently. It was harder to get Klaus out as he was seated and she'd have to move him and the chair, but Kol was trying too hard. "Not anymore, _Mon Chou_ , but you'll always have a special place in my heart," she said before closing the door the moment Kol was outside.

"That's not fair!" Kol whined from outside the door. "You can't replace me like that!"

"There's nothing to replace because there wasn't anything," Myriam said as she looked at Klaus who had an amused look on his face. "Kol told me about your family being meddlesome and in each other's business, but I wasn't aware that it was this bad."

"When you're as old as we are and have lived with each other for so long, a little codependency doesn't hurt," he replied. "It's what keeps us together, as a family."

"Kol told me about the vow you made with Elijah and Rebekah, always and forever, but why didn't you include him? Is he really such a menace to you all that you refuse to give him the light of day?" Myriam questioned him. "Don't get me wrong, Kol told me, and showed me, how he likes to have fun. He told me about his unstable emotions and insatiable bloodlust. But you do know that all he wants is to be loved by his siblings, don't you? He doesn't care about consequences because you don't care about him."

"You're very perceptive, Myriam, but I don't think you're in the position to lecture me on how we function as a family."

"Perhaps not, but over the last year and a half he significantly relaxed and became more at ease with himself and his troubles. And he became my family."

"Did he now?"

"I lost mine, and when we met, we gave each other what we didn't know that we needed. I gave him stability, he made me feel home."

"And you had sex."

She shrugged then. "We both have our needs. Kol was the first one where I didn't feel like I had to, and that I could take control. I didn't need to use myself as payment for services or favours."

"And you never have to again."

"I know that. My body is mine to give away, freely," Myriam smiled. "On top of that, I think I've ended the entire Medici line, or at least thinned them out greatly. I have control over their estate through my mother. I had them sign everything over to her, and since she's dead…"

"You didn't give them your name?"

"Of course not, Kol would have found out," she replied as a matter of factly. "It was a lovely thing to see him squirm and beg for my name all this time. I'm a little sad that it's over."

He was silent for a few moments as he watched her with her dolls. Unsure if Kol was able to hear them or not, if she placed a silencing spell on the room, he felt the need to ask. "So why give me your name? You do not know me, and I assure you, I'm known to kill just as freely as my brother."

"Kol told me about you, and I felt a draw to you," Myriam said after trying to find the right words. "Even when you peeked out of your room when we arrived, I could feel it. I knew it was you."

"You cast a spell on my family?"

"No! I'd never!" She blushed then. "Perhaps, I'll admit to having one of my pets follow Kol when he's left me to assure he had kept his word. Nothing more, ever."

"Then what is it that makes you so interested in me?"

"I think it's kindred spirits. Kol told me all about your family, and about being vampires. Your story resonated with me, and I don't know how to explain it. I'm very aware that you don't know me and that I only know you from Kol's experiences. But perhaps we could be friends? See where we end up?"

"Sweetheart, I'm a vampire. You're mortal. You know it won't work out."

"Perhaps not, but there's no reason not to try and open your heart a little bit. Everyone deserves to be loved, no matter how awful they think they might be. Because according to your rhetoric of your family being one of monsters, then what does that make me? I'm not a white witch. I pray to the dark Goddess Hecate for my power." She then pointed at her dolls. "And I play with demons, who could seriously harm me if I don't do it correctly. I had them kill your hunters. I had them do terrible things, and I'm not remotely remorseful. Because they earned my punishment. And in other scenarios, I needed to protect myself and my family." Before he could say anything, she smiled up at him, her dark eyes meeting his blue. "There is beauty in darkness. Just because we live in the dark doesn't mean we can't love or be loved, either."


	5. Chapter 5

1701

For the next two years, Myriam spent her time with the Mikaelsons, and it was strange how at home she felt among them. She joined Kol on some of his adventures around the town and towns close by, and she and Klaus spent a lot of time together in his study as he painted. Myriam even allowed him to paint a portrait of her, as he had done of her mother. Rebekah loved to go shopping with Myriam, always wearing the latest fashion and she even involved her in the social circles she moved. And Elijah… well, she appreciated his fast knowledge of history, but he was different from Kol, Klaus, and Rebekah. She didn't like his energy at all.

Myriam couldn't get used to feeling like a princess. Never in a million years would she have thought to have the life she was leading now, and all of this because she wanted to save a woman from being attacked. However, for the last couple of months, she had to flee the house a couple of times when emotions were heightened, anxiety levels rose, and their paranoia was through the roof.

She had sent her demons out to see what was going on, but they couldn't find anything that could be remotely responsible for her family's behaviour. And Mikael wasn't getting close at all. One of her demons had located him in Germany. There were still plenty of countries between them and him, and they had plenty of time to move if needed. As long as they didn't attract any attention, it was going to be alright.

But of course, Mikael on the same continent as them meant that he was getting too close.

Kol was sent to France on an errand for Elijah, which meant that Myriam and Klaus could spend more time together, but on this particular evening, she found herself in the sitting room with Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah, and the three of them had a serious look on their faces. "Who died?"

"No one," Elijah replied with a pleasant smile on his face. Myriam didn't trust it. Why had she stopped telling her demons to listen in on conversations between the siblings? Now she didn't know what was going to happen! "We have the feeling that soon we'll have to find ourselves a new place of residence and that situations can get out of control. Don't you think we haven't noticed you leaving the house whenever tensions run high in this home, it's a good thing; you're mortal, and we could kill you if we aren't in control."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that some underlying threat?" she questioned.

"Not at all, but we believe that it's for your best interest if you travel ahead to the area we wish to settle next. It won't be without its dangers, of course, but you'll be a lot safer."

Myriam was not sure if she should be relieved with what she was hearing. While it appeared they were concerned for her safety, they were well aware she was capable of defending herself - even if they hadn't seen her actually practice her abilities yet. Turning her gaze to the one in the room that she'd grown to trust the most, she wanted more explanation. "Niklaus?"

"How would you like to go to the New World, love?" he asked kindly. "It would have been better to travel as a family, but we still have some business to attend to here."

"Then I can wait!"

Klaus sighed and shook his head. "I wish it were that simple, but it is not. We need to secure our tracks because we know our father is growing closer. I don't want you to get involved in this if we can avoid it so please go ahead and set up our next home for us."

Myriam then barked out a laugh. "This is the reason why you sent Kol away, isn't it? Because you know it would be harder to convince me with him around," she shook her head. "Unbelievable."

"Mikael is no joke," Rebekah said, a bit of force in her voice. "And yes, ducky, we are well aware that you can protect yourself, but we don't want any harm to come over you. Please. They usually send a compelled human over to where ever they want to go next, that they're willing to send you ahead means that you've gained their trust."

"When will you join me in the New World? Are you giving me your word that you will join me and that you're not simply sending me away on my own?"

"Of course," Rebekah smiled at her. "The New World is beautiful, filled with wonders. Elijah, Nik, myself and Kol were born there. There are a lot of opportunities that we don't have on this continent. Just imagine; you'll be in charge of getting us a home, and you can do whatever you wish."

Myriam glanced between the three and the brothers avoid her gaze. "I sense you withholding something from me. Something important. I understand the need to go ahead, but there is more involved. If you want my cooperation willingly, speak."

"There are three options of landing in the New World at short notice. One is in Charleston, South Carolina. Now the issue with that port is the colour of your skin. You're only a little too dark to pass off as completely white. Over here it doesn't matter; slavery is different over here, but over there…"

"What is wrong with the colour of my skin?" Myriam blurted. "Why is that important to anyone?"

"Most of the New World is being built with slaves from Africa. Black people. Slavery is abolished here by now, but two hundred years ago there were black slaves in most of Europe," Rebekah explained. "But in the New World… they're going a little back in time because they can't get the manpower from the Old World to build a new civilisation."

Myriam blinked as she sat back in her chair, taking in the information in silence. Her jaw clenched in her barely restrained anger. "What other options?"

"There's a port in Florida. Florida has a very nice climate, warm, like Spain… and it's a Spanish Colony."

"Pass."

Rebekah smiled then. "I somehow knew you were going to say that, but them lot didn't want to believe me," she said as she pointed at her brothers. "The last one is a very recent port, everything is still in development, and it will be lovely to settle there."

The young witch stared back at them, waiting for the catch. "What is it?"

"Rumors go that they will get slaves in a few years, and they currently have Native slaves. Your skin might still be a bit too dark to be accepted. However, the issue is that the ship leaves from France."

"It's a French colony, requiring their citizenship laws," she realised. "A woman alone travelling that far is unheard of, no matter how well off she is."

Elijah nodded as he stared at her, gaging her reaction. "Yes. From what we've been able to determine in our research for all the viable options before coming here tonight is that you would need to be married. At least on paper."

"Not for real, though, right? You can make false papers?"

Rebekah looked at her brother before turning back to Myriam. "While the papers may be false, to them they won't be. You will be married to them, and you'll have to act married. Play the part."

Myriam let out a delirious bout of laughter until tears peaked out from the corners of her eyes. "You all must certainly be jesting! And who do you expect me to marry? Is this another reason why you have Kol running to France? To have him set up a marriage for us? While he and I have been intimate, we would never be able to fool any officials that well."

"No, but you and Niklaus will," Elijah replied.

That shut her up. "Now I hadn't believed it possible for a vampire to be deranged, but you sir have just convinced me. I haven't even been able to convince him to court me. And now you want us to play married?"

"Listen, we thought about it to be Kol, but everyone who knows about us knows that he's… low on the pecking order, sort to speak. With your false marriage to Niklaus, it will give you status, especially on top of your family name. It will protect you in the social circles, and it will get you things done," Rebekah explained. "We will know it's not real, but it has to appear real to the officials."

Myriam stood and turned to Niklaus with her hands on her hips. "And you agreed to this madness?!"

"Not without a few temper tantrums," Klaus looked up at her. "But we want you on a ship as soon as possible, and those three are the most viable options. You could still choose to go to Florida."

"I hate Spain and Spaniards," she hissed. "I will only do to Florida what I did to my blood in Florence if a single one were to lay a finger on me. I will never agree to that if one of you were not to go with me."

Elijah smiled as he waited for her to take several calming breaths. "So, it's risking potential slavery in the Carolinas, or marry Niklaus to go to Nouveaux-Orléans. If you can come up with another option by tomorrow afternoon…"

"Yes! We wait!"

"Sweetheart," Klaus rose to his feet and gently put his hands on her shoulders, looking at her with a small smile on his face. "This can't wait," he said quietly. "I give you my word that we will join you as soon as we possibly can. You can leave some of your pets behind if you wish, to keep an eye on us if that would make you feel better."

She stared back at him, lifting her chin in defiance. "And what of you and I? You arrive, and we become strangers? Back to this strange in between of something that you continue to deny yourself?"

He opened his mouth to say something, closed it and then sighed, hanging his head in shame. "Please, for the family."

"And you question why I'm so resistant for this option," she whispered. "I'll be in my room."

Klaus wanted to go after her, but Elijah stopped him. "Allow her some time to think about this."

He narrowed his eyes at his brother before pulling back his fist and punched him in the face. "I told you, she wasn't going to like it!"

Rebekah sighed as she spoke over her shoulder. "There wasn't an option that was going to be appealing no matter. She's been after Nik since her arrival. It's been no secret she fancies him, but she wants her affection reciprocated. You cannot fault her for that."

"I am not worthy of her, Rebekah!"

"So you keep saying, but who are you to judge your own worth? For God's sake, Niklaus, there's this woman who loves you for who you are, and who we all like! Yes, she's mad for the big bad Niklaus Mikaelson, the big bad wolf! Besides, she's just as insane as you are. You're made for each other!"

He continued to shake his head, stepping away. "If she doesn't want to transition, then what is the point?" he questioned. "She's mortal now if she doesn't want to transition, she'll grow old and die. Perhaps I've been holding off to see if she will ever decide on that because Kol's been harassing her about changing and she has refused to answer."

"Maybe you should ask her instead? She seems to answer questions from you that she won't from him. How do you know she's not waiting for you to ask her to change for you?" Rebekah suggested. "And truly, Nik, you need to stop thinking you're not worthy of being loved by someone other than the random whore or us." She then pushed him towards the hallway. "Forget what Elijah said, go talk to her."

He hesitated as he looked back at his sister before agreeing and slowly made his way up to Myriam's room at a human pace. When he reached her door, he stood and stared at it, losing time as he attempted to build up the courage to face her again. To say what needed to be said. That he wasn't ready yet, but he was interested. Just, not yet.

Knocking on the door, he rested his head against the hardwood, waiting for a response. He heard her movement pause and closed his eyes. "Myriam. Please, let me in so we can speak."

She opened the door and looked at him. "You've been standing at my door for nearly half an hour."

He blinked back at her. "I hadn't realised. I am sorry…"

She stepped away from the door to allow him room to get inside before she continued to look at her trinkets to sort them from occupied to unoccupied.

He looked around once inside, unsure how he felt to find her luggage pulled out and many of her clothes beginning to fill them. "I, um…I need to apologise for what happened downstairs earlier. It was not my intentions for it to go the way it had."

"It's fine," she said with a sigh, not looking at him. "I've always wanted to go to the New World and to travel ahead of you to make things in order is the best chance I'll ever get to actually get there. Even if it means that we have to appear to be married while nothing is going on between us."

Klaus' eyes shot up to her. "That's what I came to speak to you about. About what you asked of me."

"I'd rather not have you do that," she said softly, knowing full well that he was going to let her down and break her heart. If she even had a heart left. She had felt it tighten in her chest during their conversation downstairs and it hadn't let up since.

He shook his head, swallowing his nerves away. "No, I need to. Otherwise, it may never be done. But before I say what I need to, I need an answer from you to give you yours. Do you ever intend to transition someday?"

She nearly dropped one of her trinkets upon that question and looked at him in shock before composing herself. "Kol has been preparing me for such an inevitability since we left Florence three years ago."

Klaus stared her down, his eyes demanding an honest answer. "That doesn't say whether you would ever complete the transition if it were offered to you."

"I hope that whenever I end in that situation that it will be by choice, not by accident. But I'm 21 years old, Klaus. I am still young. At this point, I value my humanity too much."

"I was not much older than you when this life was forced upon me by my parents," he pointed out. "Sometimes we don't have that option. You cannot predict the future."

"Yes, it was forced upon you. I have a choice. Unless you're not giving me a choice," Myriam said as she grabbed one of her trinkets, it was empty, but still. "You wish to take away the choice?"

He turned away, running a hand over his mouth, trying not to lash out his frustration on her. "No, I do not. But accidents happen, sometimes things aren't quite so accidental. We have many enemies out there, and while our name does give you protection amongst the humans, it also leaves you vulnerable to others. You wonder why I've been resistant to your advances? Everyone we've loved has left us. So forgive me when I am reluctant to admit to being afraid of gaining another weakness."

"You're sending me to the New World by myself to prepare a home for you to come home to with only your word!" Myriam shot at him. "Words can be broken, I am at risk of you abandoning me, just while I have found my family!"

"I'd be risking just the same!" he roared back at her. "You'd leave me. You can die and leave me alone in this miserable life. Why have I fought this? Because history repeats itself!"

She barked out a laugh. "You'd still have your family. I'd have no one."

He shook his head. "You are mortal. You'd eventually die," he reasoned. "Yes, you are a part of our family and would always be considered so, but what you are asking of me - emotions change. So yes, I am infatuated with you Myriam, but I don't know what to do. If you were not to transition, to not spend this eternity with me, then what is the point? You can't even tell me that you would change to be with me."

"You haven't been listening. As of this moment, I would still prefer to remain mortal, I want to experience the arrival in the New World with my human feelings instead of everything overwhelming me. And once you arrive, I will have my affairs in order and then you-"

"I'm not asking you to change right this moment, Myriam," he interrupted wearily.

"And then you can turn me. And I will go through the transition."

Klaus stood silently, staring across the room from her, separated by her bed. He wasn't sure how to feel by her sudden agreeance. Nodding briefly, he looked around again. "Okay, um… So we will figure out how to make this work, but it will take time. I am not the easiest creature when it comes to change."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I do wish to transition, Klaus. But only when we're in the New World. Together. So that I know that you won't abandon me and you'll know that I'll be waiting for you. I'm not the easiest to live with either, you know."

"No, you aren't, love," he admitted with a small smile. "However, to more current events. We do need to tend to official matters before you depart for the boat from La Rochelle. I can have Elijah compel the official, or you and I can go in person to handle the paperwork ourselves before you depart," he said before hesitating again.

"Does that mean you'll be travelling with me for three months to La Rochelle?"

"For that, yes. It would be necessary. But the voyage to the New World is far longer and more dangerous. I know we just discussed, passionately, about you transitioning, but I want you to board with several vials of my blood in case you fall ill or injured."

"Blood will go off within a day if not properly stored," she said as she looked around to find the vials she had spelt. "I spelt these to preserve just about anything, and a demon is guarding them." She came prepared. She had spelt the vials maybe a year prior, in case all hell broke loose and she'd had to leave. Kol had already offered to fill the vials, but it hadn't been necessary at that point. The demon wasn't attached yet, but she remembered Kol telling her that Klaus valued his blood and never gave it away freely, so it would be a security measure he'd appreciate.

Klaus slowly made his way closer with a smile. "Of course you did, but I would expect nothing less of you."

"You'd be surprised how prepared I am for many situations," she smiled up at him as he came closer to her. "I'm a woman of many talents."

"Of that, I have no doubt, but one day I will properly court you as you requested - even if we are already married by the French courts. No one but those necessary would need to know until we announce it ourselves. Come to it on our terms."

"There aren't going to be falsified papers, are there?"

"Elijah's intention would have produced falsified ones, but if we go and do this, then it gives us time to accept it, true or false. Remember; eventually, it won't matter to the humans in a century as nearly everyone will be dead. It will just make it much more official for now. Especially since we won't be able to compel officials in the New World. They may be smarter. We know there are supernaturals there and vervain does exist, just not sure how abundant," he spoke his thoughts.

"I've been doing things the wrong way round my entire life, Klaus, it doesn't matter to me," she gently rubbed his arm. "As long as you won't take off with anyone else because that would make me extremely angry and I won't hesitate to make your life miserable in any way that I know."

He let out a chuckle then. "You were taught by my brother, I'll make sure I'll toe the line."

She raised a brow, pulling back. "Is that so? When you have such a willing partner you're about to wed? How inappropriate!"

"That was a joke, love," he smiled at her. "Perhaps in my early days, I paid for what I needed… sometimes, but no longer."

"Good," she nodded. "Now, are you going to help me pack or will I have to do this myself, husband-to-be?"

~o.O.o~

Myriam had to admit, it had been easier to share a carriage with Kol two years ago than it was currently with Klaus. While Klaus had a more natural presence, there was this tension between them and him still refusing her affections. Upon arrival in La Rochelle, a package was waiting for her that she had been waiting on for a long time. One of Klaus' compelled vampires had retrieved it for her in Florence, and the papers were all in her name.

Which was strange, seeing as she told her father to sign it over to her mother. But it was proof that she was a Medici, and that she owned multiple buildings in Italy and France. That she had wealth of her own. It was what the French magistrate would need for her to prove that she was a real person. Included in that package was a filled pouch with gold coins and she had never seen that much currency in one place.

It took five minutes for her to become Myriam Envie Mikaelson. No longer Myriam du Mer, and thank God not Myriam d'Medici. Klaus then made sure she got onto the ship and waited until the ship sailed before running back to Cadiz.

There was some bad weather on their journey to the New World, and it took them three months to reach Port de Mardi Gras in Louisiana. From there, it would be a quick carriage ride to Nouveaux-Orléans. She had barely left her quarters on board the ship because the men on it were rowdy and mostly drunk and she didn't want to out herself as a witch. She had her quarters protected by her demons, some dark objects, and spells, and she only came out when it was time to have dinner.

Once she arrived in Nouveau-Orléans, she was detained for a while as for some reason her paperwork got lost, and they didn't believe that she was married and wealthy because of her skin colour. She hated the New World already. She ended up paying the officials 1/8th of her gold coins on her person before she was allowed passage.

Some wooden houses had already been built by Native slaves, and she hated to see them being treated so poorly. One helped her to get her belongings inside her designated home, and she attached a demon to him to help him out. Not to harm him, but to do good. The demon wasn't too happy with it until she threatened to harm the demon and cast it straight into the fiery pits of hell. No demon ever wanted to go there, it's why they had their own plane to live on, so they could move freely between layers of existence.

The first thing she did before unpacking was to make sure her home was secure. She had no idea for how long she'd be on her own, and she had promised Klaus to stay safe. She attended the town meeting, with the leader welcoming everyone and telling them the laws and where to find furnishings for their homes, but since there wasn't a lot of manpower, people were going to have to wait for their things.

Myriam was already determined to make her own bed. How hard could it be? Surely she could call upon spirits who had been woodworkers before they died so they could teach her how to make things herself? Or perhaps that was unbecoming of a woman. Was she honestly supposed to sit still and be pretty instead of helping build a civilisation?

She went out the following day, exploring the area. There were a lot of wild herbs growing nearby, including patches of vervain. Knowing that her family was going to need safety upon arrival, she planned on telling one of her demons to set fire to it one day soon. There was a morass area on a day's ride on horseback, back and forth, and nobody really came there, not from what she could tell. It was going to be easier to do her more complicated spells in that area instead of in the midst of a colony that was being built with so many Catholic civilians.

Oh, she sat through Sunday masses, because Klaus had told her to blend in. She joined a women's society where they made quilts where she was miserable and thinking of ways to kill them all to keep herself entertained. But she was never fully accepted. And it was because of two things; she was the subject of the rumour mill for not having produced a husband after six months of being in Nouveaux-Orléans. Then the men started to accost her and hurt her. And the second part was still the colour of her skin. How could someone with a darker skin be well off? Surely she must have stolen her wealth or worse.

After being hurt so many times over the years that she was by herself, she had gone through every vial of Klaus' blood, and she decided to stay out in the marsh, as for as long as she had lived there, she hadn't seen a single soul there. She'd be living in peace, waiting for her husband and her family to come. She'd been through worse, she could handle the bugs with a few spells and with a few branches she had made a roof over her head. No one would miss her, in fact, she was convinced that they'd all be glad to be rid of her.

Until her family would arrive. And they'd all be sorry.


	6. Chapter 6

1703

After feeding on the entire crew of their vessel out of anger and anxiety, they drifted the rest of the way to New Orleans, compelling a small boarding crew to take their belongings to shore. Klaus was very eager to find his wife, mainly because the demon she had put with him talked to him in his dreams, that she wasn't doing well and that her situation had become dire. Earlier he had told him that she had run out of his blood. Klaus had never intended to stay away from her for this long, but perhaps he had underestimated the danger she'd be in.

After being directed to their home, he could tell that she wasn't there. Her trinkets were there, likely to protect the house, but he could tell that she hadn't been home for a very long time.

"Nik," Rebekah called out nervously from around the back of the house. "She has a horse that is also missing."

Anger rising, he balled his fists before heading over to the nearest house and knocked on their door. When a man opened, Klaus grabbed him and pushed him up against the wall. "Where is my wife?!"

The plump man stared at him confused and looked around. "Who?"

"Myriam Mikaelson, where is she?" He demanded, slamming the man against the wall again.

He groaned as he glanced back towards the house. "I have no knowledge. I last saw the single woman two moons ago. She took off on her horse with her satchel and has not returned. My wife believes she does voodoo in the woods."

"Where!"

"I do not know! No one goes near the woods near the whole moon! It's not safe! I am sorry, but she is probably dead from the beasts!" he cried out.

"Niklaus," Elijah warned him. "We do not kill our neighbours on our first day in."

He turned to his brother. "Myriam…I should have come with her. She asked of me..."

"We'll find her," he said assuringly. "We'll split up and cover more ground that way."

"Let him go, Nik. Compel the good man and thank him for his non-information," Rebekah sweetly said as she walked to her brother and caressed his back. "We can always come back and take a bite out of him later."

"If she's dead, this city will drown in blood."

"Yes brother, we know," she smiled at him. "Go on, compel him."

He did as he was told before the three of them split up. At some point he was physically stopped and couldn't go further, knowing that it was the demon guiding him. "Take me to Myriam then," he said softly. "I allow you to move my body." Klaus was propelled forward then, taking a few turns and then stopping again as a horse walked towards him, seemingly without a rider, but he could smell her, and her blood.

"Myriam," he breathlessly said as he helped her off the horse and pulled her to the ground with him. It was clear that the wolves had tried to make a meal out of her, and from what he could tell she put up a good fight. Unfortunately, they got her too. He bit his wrist and held it to her mouth. "I'm here, love, drink. Please drink." Her heart was already beating far too weak for her to survive this, but she needed to have his blood inside of her otherwise he'd lose her forever.

And he wasn't prepared for that. That wasn't their agreement. "Drink, sweetheart. There you go…"

"Klaus?" she sputtered as her eyes fluttered open. "Am I dreaming?"

"No. I'm here now. Just sleep, and all will be well," he whispered, pulling her closer to himself. "I will bring you home and get you cleaned up, and you will be good as new."

She shivered in his hold and closed her eyes. "I waited for you."

"I know, love. I know," he murmured, pressing his lips to her hairline. "Conserve your strength right now and rest. I'm not leaving your side." He had found her just in time. Hearing her heartbeat fade was painful, but she was going to return. Her wounds had already started to heal, and while he felt bad for her horse, he wanted to get her home as fast as he could. He would take the saddlebags, but that was it. He merely had to wait until she faded completely. "Rest love, you'll feel better when you wake up," he whispered, and then she let go.

Elijah and Rebekah had returned from their search and were hoping that their brother had had more luck. Rebekah's heart sank when her brother walked into their home with a dead Myriam in his arms. "Oh no!"

"I found her just in time," Klaus said as he put her down on the bed and used his speed to clean her up and have her in a change of clothes. "But those wolves are going to pay."

"Wolves? That's going to get interesting," Elijah mused.

"I will kill them all," Klaus said as he looked at his brother. "And you won't stop me."

Elijah wanted to deny him but seeing the girl as she continued to heal he knew it would be fruitless to stop him. "Let us focus on Myriam for now. Her transition will be hard enough, and from what people have been whispering, I do not doubt the humanity she told you she wanted to keep until we arrived was not easy."

"What did you learn?"

"That at first she was accepted like any new arrival and that she was participating in women's clubs. It was frowned upon that she, as a woman, made her own furniture for her home as the slaves were working tirelessly to make sure everyone would get what they requested," Elijah replied with a smile. "She built everything in this house herself, and I believe she had plans to extend the property but was stopped by the council. They had started to get doubts about her status."

"I should have come with her," he said again.

"I don't believe she used her pets or her magic to help her along. After all, in a small community she'd easily been found out as a witch," Rebekah added to her brother's story. "It started to become a little suspicious that she often went to the marsh, though. Nobody dared to venture there."

Klaus sighed and nodded. "Very well. Let's get settled and make sure our brothers are safe while we wait for Myriam to come back to us so she can tell her story herself."

Rebekah peered out of the window, taking notice of the curious neighbours. "I do not believe the neighbour was compelled enough. It seems he remembered enough to tell others of our arrival and her disappearance. Even with her turning, she may have to play decrepit for some time to the public. She won't be happy at all."

"And Niklaus, you'll have to try to remain calm and collected when dealing with these humans, we do not wish to draw attention to ourselves," Elijah told him. "It's too early to get involved or to start murdering this colony. We need to get established first."

"Then you deal with them! I'm covered in her blood because they drove her to hide in the woods instead of her home!"

He nodded as he headed outside the home and closed the door behind him. "We'd like to thank you for your concern for my sister-in-law, but I can assure you that we have been able to find her and she's now resting."

One woman from the gathering eyed him. "No one who dared to go to the morass on a whole moon has ever been found alive."

Another shushed her. "I wasn't even sure to believe she really had a husband as she claimed."

"My sister-in-law was nowhere near that place when we found her. Rest assured, she is alright. And as for her marital status, she is married to my brother. We merely had some more business to attend to in France before we made the journey across the sea ourselves. Unlike some, we are a family who values women as equals to ourselves. Myriam was more than equipped to travel ahead and make sure our home was made."

Many men sneered as they turned away, while the women whispered among themselves. The one who questioned her status from being in the marsh still stared at Elijah, sceptical of his story.

"Again, I wish to thank you for your concern. It'll be lovely getting to know you all once we've settled."

"Then I suppose she should be well enough for tea and quilting tomorrow, no?" The woman challenged.

"I said that she was found, and not in the marsh, however, she did have some wounds on her that require healing. Besides, I'm fairly certain that my brother wishes to spend a couple of days alone with his wife," he said with a wink. "The poor bastard has been needing to help himself for the last few years!"

"There are plenty of girls around for that! No need for a wife!" One man laughed, earning a disgruntled glare from the pudgy woman beside him.

Elijah sighed and shook his head. "Should my brother, or myself, learn from Myriam if she was treated poorly, or taken advantage of, then those who are responsible for her misfortune will be held accountable. Myriam Mikaelson is not only a Mikaelson but the sole heir of the Medici fortune. Which you likely didn't believe, or she may not have told you. Unlike her family, though, she's not forgiving," he said in a low voice. "I shall ask her if she wishes to join you for tea and quilting, but don't be surprised if she chooses to be with her family that she had to miss for so long."

The crowd began to break up, whispers of concern and nervousness spread between them as the names mentioned by Elijah were repeated, with warnings to stay away. The last to leave was the woman, and she was slow in her walk, haughty as she continued to believe she was better than any other in the village.

Elijah walked back inside and saw the concerned look on his sister's face. "Oh, don't worry, Rebekah, I believe that only one person knows that Myriam was attacked by wolves and she might know that because she's one herself," he smiled at her. "I believe I saw a brief flash of yellow eyes when she walked away."

"You just had to use the Medici name. Myriam is going to kill you."

"It's what she should have done in the first place!"

"And no one would have believed her!"

"Zut Alors!" Myriam moaned as she tiredly rubbed her eyes. "Even in my dreams, you are loud!"

Klaus lifted his head from beside her, the exhaustion having caught up, grasping her hand. "How are you feeling, love? What do you remember?"

She felt hurt all over, weighing her down but she also felt that she wasn't hurt. She looked at Klaus before realising where she was, and she did remember that she was in the marsh and had abandoned her home. "I'm dreaming?"

He smiled and shook his head. "You've asked me that already, but no. You are not."

"Then I am dead."

"If you don't ingest some human blood in the next 24 hours you will be. You're not dreaming, love. You're awake, and we are here."

Myriam managed to sit up then, blinking as she took in who was present in their home and then looked at Klaus again. "You're here."

"I am," he smiled at her. "Now what do you remember?"

"I was too late getting out of the swamp. The moon was already filled before I realised… Was I attacked? Perhaps two days ago? I can't remember, it's fuzzy. Do I want to remember?"

"Perhaps it's better if you don't," he said as he sat up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I am sorry it took us so long to get to you."

She then looked at him, truly looked at him and noticed he was covered in blood. "Is that…"

"Yours?" he asked as he followed her gaze. "Yes, sorry love, I only thought about cleaning yourself up and didn't think about doing the same for myself. You would have been dead if your demon hadn't guided me to you."

Myriam was quiet as she looked around again, ignoring Rebekah and Elijah watching her from the opposite end of the room. She reached up to her neck and couldn't find her necklace that held a few ornaments for her demons. "I have to find my necklace. If they aren't broken, then they won't be free, ever. I need my necklace."

"Don't worry about your trinkets, love," he replied calmly. "You can still have your demons to play with once you transition. Your magic, however, will be gone, but you will gain strength, stamina and heightened senses."

"I know what it entails to be a vampire! I've lived with you all for nearly four years until you sent me here! To die!" she snapped at him.

"We didn't know about the wolves!" Klaus countered in the same tone of voice as she had used on him.

Her eyes turned back to his, her lip curling back. "It was wolves...mon Loulou?"

"And if you turn, I promise, we will get them all and slaughter them," he replied darkly.

"I want to kill them," she growled. "But first, what was that outside? If I have to attend another one of those dreadful functions, you won't have your father to fear. I will kill you myself."

"Sweetheart, you won't have anything to worry about. You can do what you wish."

"From what I saw is they were nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. If they had truly cared for you as if you were one of their own, they would have organised a rescue party for you," Elijah spoke. "However, we need to tread with caution; Nouveaux-Orleans is still a colony in the midst of being populated and grow as a settlement. You can't kill anyone as of right now, as it would decimate the population and it would become suspicious."

Myriam stood and began to pace the length of the room with agitation. She could not help but rub at her gums that begun to ache. "I had to have been set up. I have never stayed for the moon because of the stories. I'm not that naive, and I was out of Klaus' blood. And my blasted mouth hurts!"

"Did you drink or eat anything from someone who gave it to you before going into the morass?"

She started to shake her head. "I don't think so, no. But the last few days are a blur. I remember afternoon tea…"

Elijah smirked then. "I know just the right person for you to have for your first meal, Myriam. She challenged me and asked if you'd come for tea and quilting tomorrow."

"That's fucking Valerie," she growled. "She's supposedly the healer of this town after her husband passed a month after we arrived here. She's one of the heavy influencers and had it out for me since the beginning. She lives a few doors down. Can't miss it, she has beds of flowers around her home."

"That hideous house surrounded by vervain. Just lovely," Rebekah complained.

"Be grateful it's around her house now, it used to grow in the wild and I had my demons take care of it," she replied. "Although I could ask them to set it alight now…"

"Which would be irresponsible seeing as it will be suspicious and we are the only new arrivals," Elijah replied.

"So would the woman's death," Rebekah pointed out. "We need someone for her to transition, but less conspicuous. We can work up to the troll's demise."

"I might want to hog tie her and have her bleed out in a bathtub," Myriam said as she kept rubbing her gums. "I'm hungry."

Klaus smiled, pulling her over. "I know you are. And you will have her blood for your demons and your appetite as I am certain you will gain a certain taste for your victims. Come, I'll take you out farther where we can find someone for you."

"It's nearly sunrise, Niklaus," Elijah pointed out.

"Oh!" Myriam wrestled herself out of Klaus' embrace and looked for her box of trinkets. Out of the box came a pouch and she looked through it to find the prettiest she'd made. "Not to worry! I come prepared!"

There was a small pout on Klaus' face, but he said nothing as he watched her slip the ring on her finger. He glanced at his siblings and their confused looks, shaking his slightly to avoid any comments.

"Let me guess, Kol?" Rebekah said eventually.

"He always believed I'd make a great vampire and wanted me to be prepared," she said proudly as she then realised that he wasn't there. "Speaking of Kol, where is he?"

Elijah sighed and had hoped that she wouldn't notice. "After we sent you away, Kol returned and threw a major tantrum that lasted for months. It eventually lead to Mikael tracking us down and he wasn't willing to go. We had to put him back into his box."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Free him."

"We will, in time, when we've settled and that we know that we are safe and that we are able to keep him under control."

"He's out of control because you should have told him!" Myriam blurted. "You should have included him in the decision, and he would have come quietly, even agreed to all of this! This doesn't seem like a family when Elijah Mikaelson makes the final say. Did you agree to this Rebekah? Niklaus?"

They both didn't know where to look. "Kol is less agreeable than you may think," Rebekah replied quietly.

She was hurt by the response, blinking as she stepped away from her sister. "I never saw this person you speak so poorly of, and when he is let out and takes his revenge on you, I will enjoy watching every second of it. Take me away from here Niklaus, please."

He scooped her up and ran outside with her to the outskirts of the colony before setting her down again. "I'm sorry, love."

Myriam sighed as she closed her eyes. "You were in agreement with him, I know."

"The way that Kol was… it was impossible to reason with him without you there. It was a risk Elijah had been willing to take."

She looked up at him, filled with annoyance. "Everything is about Elijah? Kol is your brother too. It was a risk sending me here alone and look what happened. I'm in transition because you all took your time coming. You were supposed to be here months ago! I've waited and hoped for your arrival! Just to stop hearing the whispers about the invisible husband I claimed to have! You made a promise!"

"We ran into some unanticipated trouble along the way, but love, I am here now, and I'm not going to let you out of my sight again, unless if you wish to be out of my sight for reasons beyond my comprehension," he said calmly. "I am here. And once you've transitioned and adjusted, we shall prove everyone wrong. You will be seen with me. Elijah already promised the colonists that if we find out who has wronged you in any way, that there will be consequences, and that is true. You should not have been outcast."

"Are you going to undagger Kol?"

"Not now, sweetheart. Perhaps next year, once we've assimilated into the colony?"

"I will remind you of that."

"I hope that you do."

She gave him a smile and turned to look around. "Alright, so I eat a human, I become a full vampire, then we can go home and go to bed, no?"

"Of course, you can rest if you want to. After all, you have appearances to keep up now," Klaus smiled at her.

"That's not quite what I had in mind Niklaus," she frowned at his avoidance. "It's been nearly 3 years, and I've kept my promise to you."

"As have I," he admitted before looking away from her in shame. "Admittedly, it's only half the promise. I didn't abandon you. I came for you. The rest… I'm ashamed to admit that it's still a work in progress."

She walked ahead, away from him as she could begin to pick up the scent of her own blood lingering on his clothes. "Just how long do you plan to have me wait? After all, we are married. Should I not get something out of this arrangement? Because that is what it is at the core. An arranged marriage. Something I had truly avoided after my mother died and having nothing," she argued and stopped to turn and face him. "I'm just like your Katerina Petrova if you think of it. The way she arrived after she was ousted by her family. Only I have no ulterior motives against you, and you don't need my blood for a ritual."

"You are nothing like Katerina!"

"Then why deny me at every turn?! We are here for me to transition! That was your condition I remember," she pointed out. "As soon as we come across a human and I drink, that excuse is gone. What is your next one? Elijah? Kol?"

"No."

"What then!"

"Your adjustment period, love. The time where you learn to deal with your heightened senses and emotions. And once you're through that, we'll see what happens then."

"Klaus!"

"You could still leave me! Once you're through all of that, you could change your mind like a switch, and you could still leave me!"

She threw her arms up in exasperation. "What do I have to do Klaus? To prove to you that I'm dedicated? I was here, trusting you to come to me. For three human years, and you can't do the same." Myriam turned and walked away again in search of a human as the hunger truly began to fill her with pain and make her tired. "Even now, I'm going through the transition to be with you for eternity. Like you asked. What more do you want?"

He remained silent as he watched her walk towards one of the vagabonds that were on the outskirts of town. While they hadn't been here before, they had gone through the long and painful process of seeing colonies grow, and there were always vagrants out of town. He'd have preferred it if she had a clean human to have her first feed from, but Elijah was correct; the colony was still too small. There was a chance that Myriam would kill her first meal, and that would have been suspicious.

"Should I put you under a spell? What?"

"No, that won't be necessary," he replied, a small smile on his lips. Yes, he was aware that he wasn't being fair and that he was denying himself - and Myriam - a lot of good things, but she was fragile right now. And would be until she'd come out of her adjustment phase. He had often wondered what it would be like to live like husband and wife.

As expected, Myriam did not let her victim live. In fact, she appeared to have no intention of trying. Letting it go, she walked past Klaus towards the village, keeping her eyes on his. "I'm going home now. I suppose I will expect you for supper, husband," she murmured before disappearing.

He walked over to the body of the person that she had killed and ripped it to shreds, throwing his body parts as far away as he could, to release some of his frustration with himself, but also with his very demanding wife. He then made his way back home, hoping to find some alcohol in the home.

Upstairs Myriam could be heard moving things around, occasionally items thrown from the bedroom to another across the hall. Rebekah sighed as she noticed her brother return. "First marital crisis?"

"Stay out of it, Rebekah."

"Let me guess, it's about everything else that comes with marriage? Love. Affection. Something you haven't been working on for the past 3 years because you were too busy freaking out about Mikael."

Elijah came down the stairs seemingly defeated and at a loss for a resolution. "It appears your room is across the hall now. She's in the process of removing everything she's collected for you and - relocating it. What happened?"

"Nik won't open his heart to her and give her everything she needs," Rebekah mused. "Maybe we should undagger our brother so he can teach Nik how to do it."

Klaus growled at his sister. "She just transitioned. She may not realise it, but she needs some time to acclimate!"

"She has been lonely for three years, Nik! All she wants is affection and for her husband to love her, but you're incapable of that, aren't you?"

"Rebekah," Elijah warned her upon seeing his brother's angry face.

"Transitioning or not, she has had these feelings for a very long time. As a human. And you do know that now that she's a vampire, those feelings will only be amplified." Rebekah pointed out, ignoring her brother. "Give it to her, Nik. And allow yourself to be happy!"

Elijah was unable to defend Klaus because she was right and looked back at him. The lack of sound from behind him had him grimace as he turned to find Myriam at the top of the stairs. "I was aware of that as well," she shrugged. "No matter. His things are in the small room, and I am going to go find my pendants that the wolves made me lose."

"Wouldn't it just be lovely if they were found by the colonists?" Rebekah suggested a broad smile on her face.

"Exactly why I need to get them back."

"Ugh, you're no fun. Very well, ducky, I'll come with you."


	7. Chapter 7

1718

Klaus hadn't joined her by 1710, so Myriam constructed a dog house in the back garden and had banished him there. With the help of her demons, Klaus couldn't get out until she wanted him to. However, Myriam had loved it when Klaus allowed her to kill all the wolves in the swamp during the next full moon. He stayed close for protection, but she killed them all.

The next day, however, a third of the population was dead, and Elijah wasn't pleased.

She had come through her adjustment phase just fine, and still, he wouldn't touch her or be affectionate. Other than the public hand-holding, his hand on the small of her back. She'd become a trophy wife. And it sucked. But ever since he came for her, her status in the colony had changed yet again. Everyone was fearful of her, and she wondered what exactly Elijah had told them about her, but didn't press for information.

Myriam kept mostly to herself, especially since Klaus hadn't undaggered Kol yet, and every year she asked. Every year she was refused. It was dampening her spirits, and eventually, it burned her out.

Elijah and Klaus had used their influence to gain access to the council, to rub elbows with the leaders of the colony and were now well respected amongst the colonists. New Orleans fully started to grow in 1718 when a handful of ships arrived out of France filled with criminals and suspected criminals, and a bunch of whores, which made Myriam seize her chance and had a brothel built.

Just out of spite. The wife of the well respected Niklaus Mikaelson was running a whorehouse. In secret, of course. She had compelled one of the colonists to purchase the plot of land and to find someone to build the place for her.

Myriam called it Débauche, and she argued with the whores that she would take better care of them than their owners before buying them all and putting them in a controlled environment. Even for the average day to day issues, she had someone be a front, Myriam wouldn't be seen, ever. And Myriam got a kick out of that. She was doing something that no one in her family knew of, and wouldn't likely approve of.

Myriam had her own room inside the building, accessible through a hidden door and protected with Dark Objects and her demons. Her demons kept an eye on her whores and on the patrons and she was happily doing anything she wanted. She kept a list of names of dirty scumbags, in case that she or her family needed to blackmail someone.

The slaves that had been brought over were practising a religion called Voodoo, and it was very similar to what she had believed in as a Dark Witch, and as a demonologist. While she was no longer a witch, she did want to learn all about voodoo.

And much against her own wishes, she secretly purchased a slave named Isabella. She was born and raised on white land in France, and the name was given to her by her owners. Myriam set her free, immediately, but told her that she'd love it if Isabella would stay with her as a companion. To teach her all about voodoo, and she promised to keep the girl safe and fed. Isabella felt more than indebted to her and stayed out of free will.

Myriam had finally found someone who wanted to be her friend and didn't move in those stupid social circles. Débauche had made her feel alive again.

Which is why it was incredibly frustrating when one of her demons alerted her about the presence of her husband and Elijah being in the building with a few councilmen while she was inside the building. She was going to get caught, there was no doubt about that, but Klaus was about to break his promise to her, wasn't he?

Furious, she walked out of her office and straight to her husband, slapping him in the face. Hard, and not saying a word as she angrily looked at him.

What was he supposed to say? 'It's not what you think?' She wouldn't believe that for a second even if it was the truth. And what was she doing here? Was she breaking her promise or was it not what he was thinking?

"Why is Mr Mikaelson's wife at this whorehouse?" Jean, one of the councilmen, asked. "I've never seen her here before."

"Yes, Mr Mikaelson, if you wish to share your wife, you wouldn't have to put her in here."

Klaus glared at them. "My wife is mine alone. You lay a finger on her, and I will have your head across the room," he warned before turning back to her, seeking answers. "Myriam?"

"I have nothing to say to you," she answered, eyeing him and his friends. "At least I have not broken my word, my vows," she said under her breath, leaving.

"And who says I did?" Klaus followed her, ignoring the councilmen and his brother. "Because I'm stepping inside a whorehouse? Where I have no intention of doing anything that goes against what I promised and vowed?"

She looked around, and the second that they were out of range of humans, she sped off home.

"You are a frustrating woman, Myriam!" Klaus said as he walked inside the house after having followed her home. "Explain yourself!"

"I have a cochon for a husband!" she shouted back at him, tears in her eyes. "Why was I there? I own the place! I'm bored to tears here, and you want nothing to do with me but our promises to one another keep us chained. I want you, God knows, I want you but you - not even a kiss. I hate to say that I actually miss Cadiz!"

"You own a whorehouse, and you didn't bother telling the family? Or me?"

"Yes, Klaus. I own a whorehouse where the girls are safer than with their bosses. I am their boss, I make sure they're well taken care of, fed and paid. I have been wasting away for the last decade or so, and this made me come back to life. You're not going to deny me this," she explained, looking at him. "And what were you doing if not breaking your vows?"

"They wanted a more pleasurable environment to talk business. But I was about to tell them that it didn't look like you had a comfortable area for business talk."

She let out a snort, not believing his story. Not accepting his words anymore. "Of course it was business. All it ever is is business. I am convinced that is why you do not want me. You never saw me more than a business agreement. Maybe - maybe it might be time for me to leave."

"Love, I never saw you more than a business agreement or anything like that," he said quietly. "I wouldn't have legally married you if that was the case," he walked to her and gently took her hand. "I even came prepared when we came for you in 1704, but you were far ahead of me."

Myriam glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He quickly ran upstairs to where his belongings were still mostly in trunks and took out what he needed before coming back downstairs. "I mean, that while we were married, I hadn't given you a ring. I made sure that the ring was simple and elegant, worthy of being on your finger. With a lapis lazuli looking like a sapphire to protect you from the sun," he said as he opened the box to show her. "A real wedding ring for my real wife."

She stared at it, frozen as it was far prettier than the one Kol helped her make. She had made several and had chosen the less ugly one to wear on her finger. "Then why the last ten years? Why if you say you wanted this? I don't understand."

"Because you and Rebekah have been right all along, and I've been afraid. Perhaps not even ready," he said as he gently slipped off her ring and put it inside his pocket before slipping on his ring for her. "Please, let us not fight any longer. Allow me to court you as I have promised you."

"Klaus… I don't know how much more rejection I can take if you pull away again," she cried.

"No more rejection," he said, a promise in his voice as he pulled her into his arms. "No more. I am sorry, my love, for everything I've put you through. I'll make it right for you."

She leaned into him, burying her face into his chest and breathed him in. "Don't you ever go to my business without me at your side again. I should dagger Elijah for even agreeing to that ridiculous idea."

"There aren't many places the councilmen can gather for a conversation, they were merely looking if your business has the room."

"The girls service men for money," she replied. "What kind of room are they looking for? I'm sure I can find one for each of them to share together."

He let out a snort. "A meeting room, love. One with a big table in it with chairs around it. Perhaps someone to bring a refreshment. You could hire it out to everyone, another source of income. New Orleans doesn't have a place like that, yet. They still need to build their city hall."

The suggestion brought a sour taste to her mouth but did not dismiss it. "I will consider it, but you make it clear, your wife was not at all pleased."

"I will tell them that my wife was not pleased and when they ask what you were doing there, I'll tell them that you're into charitable work and were making sure that the girls were well taken care of," he replied with a knowing smile on his face. "Because that's your intention, isn't it? Have someone else be the front?"

"If you must. I still want Elijah daggered or his neck broken. Don't think that I hadn't picked up his attempts to track my movements."

"You can snap his neck over dinner tonight," Klaus mused as he kissed the top of her head.

She could not help but smile at the thought and looked forward to preparing dinner personally that evening. A French banquet. With bread, pâté, soup and perhaps a few mushroom pies. When she was still a human it would take her a day or two to make it, the preparation was insane, but she could speed that part up now that she was a vampire. "I'll have to get some groceries. Care to accompany me, husband?" It was likely that the fishermen had some oysters. Oh, oysters… she thought as she glanced at Klaus.

"Do I have to?"

"Of course," she smiled at him. "I'm but a mere woman, I can't carry all those groceries by myself and the last time I sent a servant to do my bidding they messed it up… I had to kill him."

Klaus' brow twitched as he observed her coyness. "I'm sure he was delicious."

"So, save a servant and join me?"

He let out a long, suffering sigh. "I suppose I must do my diligence and be a good husband and join you."

Myriam couldn't contain her smile as she looped her arm through his and pulled him along to the trade area of their colony. Some people were cooking in the streets, and the smells were fantastic, but she pulled him further along towards the waterfront. The fishermen first. Perhaps they'd have other kinds of fish that she could work with. "I mean, I truly love the fact that we have servants, but you've never been here on your own, have you?"

"Not until after nightfall to feed on vagrants, no," he murmured as he glanced around. "Do you see what you want, love?"

She hummed as she walked along the crates of fish. "Some salmon… yes. Salmon," she nodded. "And oysters! Mussels!"

"Death by fish?" he asked amused.

"We can have that for two days, I have more planned," she smiled at him and had the fisherman put everything that she wanted in a bag and paid for the goods.

Klaus begrudgingly took the bag as they walked back to the trade area. "It smells."

"Of course. It is fresh," Myriam retorted. "It won't kill you."

"I'll stop complaining," he put his arm around her and couldn't hide his smile. "I always love your cooking."

"Perhaps we can stop past that wretched Valerie. I'd like to try to pick a couple leaves of vervain," she smirked.

He smiled then. "Or, perhaps it's finally time to get rid of the hag," he whispered in her ear. "New Orleans is growing, she's fallen a few ranks in the society, for which you have Rebekah to thank. She won't be missed."

"When is the next moon? If she wasn't a wolf, then she's a witch. We've found where there is one, there are more. There could be a lot of trouble after she's gone."

"I wouldn't worry about the witches," he replied. "The wolves were more of a problem. Witches can't hurt us much."

"Maybe not you, but I'm not an Original."

"But you have your own measures of protection," he countered with a smile. "And perhaps you could use your pets to locate the witches and befriend them before we kill her."

She pouted as she stopped along the market route. "But I never cared for that kind of craft. Kol practically had to manipulate me into using my magic."

"I know that you know that. But they won't have to know that," he replied. "If anything, we could use an alliance with the witches, keep them happy."

"No."

"Very well, I'll have Elijah try and talk to them."

She then sighed, realising that some of the witches practised voodoo because most of the witches were slaves or natives. "I'll try. I have a friend who may be able to help with that."

"Someone, I know?"

"No. She's mine," she said as she walked over to the baker to get some fresh baguettes and rolls before handing the bag to Klaus. "Don't worry, Klaus, I have my own ways of getting things done."

He smiled then. She was correct about that. The whorehouse had been a work in progress for almost a year before it became active a couple of months ago. She had figured everything out herself and even amassed a handful of friends. There was no doubt that she had an entire list of people she could manipulate or blackmail for visiting her establishment. "Are you sure?"

She sighed then. "Leave it to me. No doubt you'd have asked Kol to do this if he hadn't still been in his box!"

"We could free him if you wish."

She looked at him with a stupid look on her face. "You're not serious? I've been trying to get him out for the last decade, and you always refused!"

He looked around and pulled her aside. "I promised you when I put that ring on your finger that I would do what I can as your husband. I want us to work. Yes, it may take time in areas that may not please either of us, but where I can, I will try to accommodate my beautiful wife."

She smiled widely then. "You're really going to unbox Kol?"

"Yes, I miss him too," he replied with a nod. He knew that Kol would have some issues at first, but with Myriam's influence, he might tread carefully. If not, she could see with her own eyes how difficult he could get. And then they'd box him again.

"I can't wait," she was all excited, picking up her skirts to hurry and finish shopping so that she could prepare a grand meal. Pushing herself up on her toes, she kissed Klaus' jaw and moved off, listing everything she wanted to find for that night.

Oh, Elijah wasn't going to be happy about it, but he was going to have to grin and bear it. His wife missed Kol, and she needed to experience his behaviour herself. By the time she was done shopping, he was carrying a lot of bags, and she looked as happy as ever before they walked home.

Myriam disappeared in the kitchen after he put the groceries in there and decided to gather up some vagrants to put them in their fenced off garden, compelled to be quiet so that his brother could have a feast. There was no doubt that he was going to be angry with them for daggering him, but he knew that he was daggered for a reason, and hopefully he had learned his lesson. His siblings weren't home yet so he could do this without their approval.

Once he was satisfied that the number of people in the garden, he went down to the basement and pulled the dagger out of his brother. Soon enough, Kol shot up in his desiccated state and wanted to punch him. "Easy."

"I'm going to find a way to kill you," he rasped as he looked around for some blood source. "How long this time?"

"Not long," Klaus assured him as he helped his brother up and out of the coffin as he directed him upstairs to the backyard. "Sixteen years."

Kol darted to the closest male, keeping his eyes on his brother. In his mind, he was still doing the math. Sixteen years. His friend was twenty-one last he saw her. Was she even still alive? Or had she turned? "Myriam?" he asked as he kept feeding.

Klaus tucked his hands in his pocket and glanced over his shoulder to the house. "She'll likely be out as soon as she is less distracted by her current project. As soon as she realises you are awake, I'm sure you won't get enough of her."

"But she's old now."

"No," Klaus smiled at him. "She turned when we arrived here in 1703."

Kol dropped the body he just drained. "She wouldn't change unless it was necessary. What happened?"

"We sent her away in 1701, I sent her off with some vials of blood."

"I remember what you told me! Safety, father, et cetera! How did she turn?!" he demanded.

"We took too long to get here! She had been attacked two days prior to our arrival by some wolves, and I found her just in time!" He responded, defending himself. "If you hadn't thrown your tantrum, we would have been on our way sooner and would have come home to her sooner!"

The back door flew open, and Myriam appeared with a bright smile. "Kol!" she cheered as she ran at him, throwing herself around him. "I missed you! I finally got Klaus to let you out!"

"You look beautiful as always, darling," he said as he stumbled back a little, still a bit weak from only feeding on one of the men in the garden. "I'm sorry for what they did to you, you shouldn't have been sent out on your own."

Her smile faltered before brightening again. "It's alright. Things have a way of working out," she said as she ran a finger over his ashen face. "Have another. I may have a witch you can feed on depending on Elijah's negotiations. But I'm making us a celebratory dinner!"

"Oh, good, your cooking is amazing," he smiled her before kissing her cheek and grabbing another meal while letting go of his friend.

Myriam moved to stand beside Klaus as she watched with a smile. "We can let Elijah clean up the bodies," she grinned.

"Some manual labour would do him some good," Klaus mused as he put an arm around his wife before kissing the top of her head. She smelled of food, and good food at that. She smelled amazing, period. Her entire being just sang to him, as it had always done, but he had always ignored it. Now that he was embracing it, he found himself addicted to her scent.

"What in the world are you d- Kol!" Rebekah exclaimed happily before turning to her other brother. "Elijah won't be happy, you know."

"I don't care, sister," Klaus smiled at her. "Look at my happy wife!"

Kol dead dropped another body. "Wife?! When did that happen?!"

"You didn't even tell him?!" Myriam shot at Klaus.

Klaus' mouth opened as he looked to his sister for help. "There wasn't much time with trying to hunt him down and explaining the situation. He responded quite violently to your travel that the further details had yet to come up. Eventually, we were forced to dagger him," he admitted. "I am sorry, my love."

She narrowed her eyes at him before walking over to Kol and to rub his arm to calm him down. "Your brother and I were married because supposedly it would protect me upon arrival here in the French Colony, and it helped me to get on that ship. And the safety worked to a certain extent. The other options of port were terrible. One in a Spanish colony and the other where the colour of my skin would mean more trouble for me," she said calmly. "So I had to marry him. And the last fourteen years have been terrible. No affection at all, only for appearances sake. Only today he decided he was ready. I haven't had sex since you, and I did it last!"

Kol frowned. "Well that's just plain cruel," he muttered. "I'm always willing to offer my services!"

"I can wait a little longer," she gently pat his arm. "I don't want you to get daggered so soon. I'm merely thrilled that after years of me nagging, Klaus finally decided to wake you up."

"And that he finally decided to be a husband," Rebekah added. "If he hadn't walked into that whorehouse they still would not be on speaking terms. Do we have salmon for dinner?"

"Whorehouse? What? Nik!" Kol sounded disappointed. "You wanted to cheat on your wife whom you even hadn't consumed your marriage with?!"

He looked around in shock and fear. "I swear I have done nothing! Elijah suggested seeing if they had some accommodations for the councilmen due to their philandering ways and I was just merely along! I didn't even want to be there!"

"You're a pig, Nik!"

"And she was there too! And that doesn't seem to worry you?"

He looked at his friend with a smile. "Saving girls, are we?"

"Mon Loulou," Myriam pouted with a twinkle in her eye and shrugged. "Fourteen years. I grew bored."

"I can imagine," he kissed the top of her head. "Well, no more, Myriam. I'll make sure of it!"

She looked intrigued. "You'll convince your brother to take me to bed?"

"Something even better," he smirked before whispering in her ear. "Now you can join in on my parties even better."

Myriam grinned, giggling before taking off for the kitchen to finish cooking, leaving the siblings together. Especially a frustrated looking Klaus. "Why must she run off all the time like that?"

"Oh, I don't know, Nik, likely because you've been a wanker to her for the last fourteen years. Fourteen years, honestly? Haven't you done anything with her for fourteen years? Not even a date?"

"I've been true to my word," he scowled. "I've been with no other the entire time as well."

"But you've neglected your husband duties because you were afraid," Rebekah piped up. "But I'm happy that you seem to have made it better today. Did she give you an ultimatum?"

"Stop badgering me! We're fine now, stop it," he said as he went inside to find his brother a change of clothes.

"Well," Rebekah smiled at her brother. "Myriam has built you your own room in this house. No one but you is allowed to enter and believe me, we've tried."

"Really now? What's the dog house for?"

"Klaus' room. Might change tonight, but he's been in there, literally, for the time we've been here."

Kol barked out a laugh. "No wonder he's grumpy!"

"We should at least see if we can convince him to share the bed if he doesn't actually do anything else with her. It may soothe her temper if he continues to hold out on her. Honestly, the repairs we've had to do because she let a demon loose on him just to frighten him has been tiring."

"Oh, I'd love to see that," he said as he kicked against one of the bodies before tearing into the last living 'present' that Klaus had gotten him. "But understand one thing, Bekah," he said as he looked up from his feed, blood dripping out of his mouth. "I'm still cross with you lot for sending her here all by herself and not including me on the decision and plans."

"You wouldn't ever have agreed to it."

"No, I wouldn't! Because she's just as afraid of being abandoned as we are!"

"Oh, don't start," Klaus said as he returned with fresh clothes for his brother. "Keep feeding then clean yourself up. Elijah will be home soon, and Myriam just informed me that dinner's almost ready. And please, she's making this dinner to celebrate, let's not fight at the table."

"Then don't start one," Kol countered as he finished feeding and took the clothes.

"Elijah might start one, he would never agree to you being undaggered."

"Elijah deserves a dagger himself," Kol scowled.

Myriam appeared at the door. "None of you will begin this family fight. This one belongs to me."

"You didn't put vervain in our food, did you?" Rebekah asked curiously.

"Not what I'm serving you, no," she said with a knowing smile. She had made individual meals for everyone, and there was vervain in Elijah's food, the other meals were clean. "But it will be a rewarding dinner, nonetheless." She then went to set the table, candles, flowers, the works. Tonight was a celebration. A double one at that. Although she still had to see if Klaus would go through with it all.

Elijah arrived home just in time for dinner, and the first thing he did was verbally attack Rebekah and Klaus for undaggering Kol. "There will be no fighting!" Myriam demanded as she pointed at the table. "Sit. I'm about to bring out your food! And, if you want to know, Klaus undaggered Kol because I've been asking for the last fourteen years. Tonight it's about celebration and reunion. We're celebrating that Kol is out of his box and that Klaus has finally seen reason which might earn him the privilege of moving back to the cupboard. Of course, when he chooses to join me in our bed, then that would be the best. But I suppose he wants to do small steps. So back to the cupboard it is."

Once everyone was seated, she went into the kitchen and retrieved the first course; a French Onion soup with baguettes and homemade pate. She first served Kol, earning him a ruffle of his hair, then Rebekah, and then Klaus, whom she kissed on his cheek. Lastly, she served Elijah. His soup was only heavily dusted with vervain, and likely the only meal he was going to have from her three-course meal that was planned for the rest.

"Oh, I've missed your cooking," Kol smiled as he happily tucked into the soup. "Wow, Myriam, this is better than I remember!"

She smiled proudly then. "It's the soil here that makes everything that grows taste a lot better than in the Old World. Just wait until I break out the salmon and oysters." She kept an eye on Elijah who seemed to be waiting until she sat down herself to enjoy her meal. "Go on, Elijah, I just want to see the look on your faces as you're enjoying your soup. I worked hard, I'm entitled to a little pride."

He took the first bite and swallowed it instead of spitting it out as he started to cough and choke. Rebekah looked alarmed, but Kol was smiling widely, and Klaus looked a little confused. "Vervain," he breathed, trying to catch his breath as the vervain made its way down his body.

Myriam grabbed him by the neck and made him look at her. "From now on, you will stop interfering with our lives. Everything gets discussed, especially when you want to dagger someone. Kol will be involved in every major decision, just how you include Rebekah in your decisions. You won't ever set foot in my establishment again. You can try, but you will be very sorry when you try. Kol will be treated as an equal, not as a doormat or errand boy. He's a better person than you think. Be a brother to him like you are to Klaus. Speaking of Klaus, you will allow him to indulge his wild side more often. The same with Kol. They're not idiots, they know that they can't slaughter the entire colony. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes," he rasped.

"I swear, Elijah, if you're not cooperating, I still have my ways to make you," she said before snapping his neck and dropping his unconscious body to the ground. She then walked into the kitchen to fetch her own soup and sat down at the table. "There. Let's enjoy a proper family meal," she smiled at her family.


	8. Chapter 8

1724

Myriam and her ladies were looking at the burning building with tears in their eyes. Débauche had been their home for nearly seven years, and now it was going up in flames. It wasn't just their building, also those surrounding them, but it still hurt. Granted, it would give them a chance to rebuild the structure with the stone and mortar that had been introduced after the ships with people came over in the previous years, but it had been their home. Their sanctuary.

And a lot of Dark Objects that she had created to keep the place safe. They were now all going up in flames. She had tried saving some, but the fire was simply too much, and all she could do was to save her girls. She had no idea what she was going to do with them, perhaps put them in an empty house until her business was rebuilt, but whoever did this, was going to pay.

Myriam could feel the anger and rage course through her veins, and there was nothing she could do about it, apart from likely slaughter an entire village. Klaus still wasn't touching her the way she wanted, but at least he spent time in bed with her. Thinking about it while the building turned to ash made her feel even angrier. One more year of Klaus not doing what she wanted and she'd leave.

But first, she needed to find the person responsible for this mess, and find a way to keep her girls safe. Of course, she had already sent some of her demons to eavesdrop on the community, but that was going to take some time until they'd come up with something. She knew for sure that it wasn't done by any of the girls, or patrons, inside the building and it wasn't an accident. Something had to be set on fire outside the building to cause this blaze.

Deciding that there wasn't anything she could do now, she brought the girls to the inn and paid for their rooms and gave them their wages, plus some extra. The inn didn't tolerate prostitution, and she didn't want them to go out on their own. Myriam made them a promise that she'd continue to pay their wages even though there was no club anymore. She also promised them that she was going to make sure that it was going to be the first building to be rebuilt.

Upon arriving home, she found Kol talking to Klaus. "It may have been an accident, Kol, but that was Myriam's business."

"I didn't know that!" There was a panic in his voice and a rage inside Myriam.

"Please don't tell me that you were the one who left my girls homeless," she said as she walked in the door. Her best friend, her soul mate, had set her business alight? Her heart shattered in a million pieces.

"Darling, it was an accident, I swear!" he cried out as he looked at her. "I had a feed, and I tossed the oil lamp like I usually do, and…"

"It hit my building!" Myriam flew into a rage, using the element of surprise to pin Kol against the wall. "Do you have any idea what you've done? My girls were safe, Kol. I now had to put them up at the Inn, and I hope to God that nothing will happen to them when I don't have them in a controlled and safe environment!" She pulled him away and slammed him against the wooden wall again, cracking the wall in the process. "The old part of the Colony, like our homes are built out of wood, and you know this. How can you be so careless?!"

"Darling, I'm sorry!"

"What can I do with that? Give my girls shelter? Eat it? Wipe my ass with it? That was the only thing that was truly mine. My project. Mine! And you destroyed it!"

"It was an accident!"

"I don't care!" She then snapped his neck and jumped back as her friend fell to the ground, repressing a sob as she looked at Klaus, tears burning behind her eyes. Oh, she was going to hate herself for the next words she was going to say, but he deserved it. Any other she would have killed. "He needs time in his box."

Klaus hesitated for a moment before getting the ash and the dagger out from one of the hidden compartments underneath the table. "Are you sure, love?"

She fisted her hands again by her side and nodded. "I won't ask for his release. But he needs a timeout, he should have been more careful and he wasn't. He destroyed what was mine."

Klaus pushed the dagger through Kol's chest, causing his unconscious body to gasp and slightly to move before his skin turned grey and his veins turned black. "I shall put him away then…"

"No. Leave him out in the sitting room on the coffee table for a couple days. He can be decoration as a reminder for Elijah or Rebekah not to mess with my things," she warned and walked out, retreating to her room with a full bottle of alcohol for the privacy to cry for all the losses she suffered and to try to get shitfaced to forget the betrayal of her best friend.

Once Klaus had done as he was told, he quietly made his way up the stairs, hearing Myriam cry as she left the door open. Risking his own neck, he walked into the room and found her sitting on the bed, holding the bottle of alcohol in one hand and trying to wipe her tears with the other. He hadn't seen her cry, ever, and he doubted that Kol had ever seen her cry.

He sat down on the bed and pulled her into his arms, to hold her close. He didn't say anything, just allowed her to cry until she was done crying. Eventually, she downed half the bottle as she dried her tears and looked at him. "I want to continue Débauche."

"Okay," he nodded. "We will rebuild. I can help, if you like."

"I had plans for the long run, but they burned. You are going to draw what I want so we can hire men to build it," she said as she took another swig of her bottle. "I want to include a bar where we'll serve alcohol, but it also has to be separate from the whores. I want more room for them."

His eyes travelled to her bottle and nodded. "I can do that. You want a bar, and lounge of sort. A hostel for the girls?"

Her eyes lit up then. "Yes! I want them to have a workspace and a place for themselves on another level! Can we do that? Please?"

Klaus could not help but want to give her everything at that moment, drawing in a breath. "I can draw something up and see if you like it. It may take some compulsion to get it approved, but one way or another, I'll make sure you get it. If for not watching Kol closer, I'll do this to repair what was done." He was apologetic for something he didn't do that he wasn't present for as he reached out to wipe her tears from her cheeks.

"You have nothing to apologise for," she smiled at him. "It was his own actions that lead to this, and perhaps it's fortunate that it happened to me and not one of the other businesses because then we'd have to do a lot of compulsion. But I'm still very angry with him. Maybe I should send a demon with him to make his dreams more like nightmares… Yes. I will do that. Tomorrow. Let him think he's gotten off lightly."

Myriam then crawled into his lap and softly brushed his lips with hers. "Daggering him wasn't enough. Not pleasing enough."

"You can do whatever you wish to him, love," he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as he looked her in her eyes. Oh, he was smitten, and he knew that he couldn't push her away any longer. Her emotions were frayed, Kol's betrayal had pushed her ever so close to the edge and if he was going to deny himself, and her, for longer, it was likely that there would be a point of no return.

"That's not fair, Klaus," she pouted as she dropped the bottle, spilling the alcohol on the floor. "Because I want to do whatever I wish to you and you keep refusing me. We've shared a bed for a few years now but other than a brush of your skin against mine… You're all I have left now."

He reached up and traced down the vein in her neck to the neckline of her dress. "Have I refused you yet today, love?"

"No," she shivered as his fingers touched her skin and lit it on fire. "But I don't want you to do this out of pity."

"Myriam, if you wish to wait this time, then I will, but it is not out of pity. I too am tired of trying to avoid this, and I don't want to be the reason you leave. Especially after Kol's actions. I don't ever want you to leave. So, yes, while my timing in succumbing to your relentless efforts and endless patience is inconvenient," he said as he held up her hand with the ring he gave her. "I still want you for our eternities."

She kissed him hard then, moving so she could wrap her legs around him as she pushed him down to the bed, kissing him needily as her heart had started to jump loops in her chest. Rotten timing, indeed, but she was going to take what she was given. And she wasn't going to let him go for a very long time, either.

Rebekah came home and let out a cry of surprise when she saw Kol daggered on the coffee table. "So it was you who set fire to Myriam's establishment? Or what else have you done, brother?" she sighed as she sat down next to him before her ears picked up on movement upstairs. "It's about bloody time!" she cried out before she compelled one of the servants to see what food they had in the kitchen and otherwise to prepare dinner for the family.

~o.O.o~

1820

Thanks to a deal they'd made with the governor of New Orleans, they were allowed to stay at his mansion and feed as freely as they wanted to. All the man wanted was gold in return. Rebekah had fallen in love with Emil, the governor's son and unfortunately, when Rebekah begged Klaus for Emil to turn, Emil died instead. Klaus had thrown him over the balcony right into the partying mass.

Myriam had scolded him for that while Elijah consoled the grieving Rebekah, because Rebekah deserved to love as well, and while Emil might not have been the brightest of choices, seeing as he was the governor's son, after all, it had been wrong. When Emil's funeral was a couple of days later, and Klaus saved a young slave boy from being whipped, she had enough of Klaus' antics and yelled at him after returning home before she packed her bags and left.

There was no way that she was going to be a mother.

Myriam returned to the Old World, to her home in Florence and cleaning it up. Making it perfect again after years of decay and desolation. She released the demons who had protected the building for over a hundred years and made it her home. Her home, not Medici. She sold most of the artwork, statues, and furniture and had a lot of fun picking up new things to decorate.

She compelled ten humans to work for her as servants and to pamper her, Myriam felt like she had deserved a long, relaxing break from her husband. If he wanted to parent, then he was going to parent without her. She'd be a crappy mother, she couldn't even remember her own mother at this point. It had been so long, and the only reminder she had of her was a painting that was still in Cadiz. Unless that home burned when Mikael set the village on fire. However, she didn't want to visit Cadiz any time soon, as she had heard rumours of a revolt going on in that part of Spain and she didn't want to get caught up with that for only one portrait.

But maybe she should have taken Kol with her, she thought as she sat one night with a glass of wine. Children had never been a subject of conversation. They were vampires after all, but it was something that never interested her beyond caring for her girls at her business. Her girls were in the good hands of Isabella. Myriam had turned her a few years after freeing her and becoming good friends. Klaus had been pissed off, but Myriam wanted friends of her own, and Isabella was the only person she sired.

Myriam spent her time tracking down some of the Medici family and see how they got on and loved that they were still thoroughly cursed. She managed to get a Medici witch from a different line to work for her and Myriam taught her how to make Dark Objects for her. Once Myriam felt she had enough, she made the witch into a meal.

During her time away from Klaus and her family she decided to pick up her habit of drinking vervain tea. It was horrible. Horrifying. It burned her so badly, but at least no one had to see how she was suffering for a little bit of more protection. Not that she believed that Klaus, Elijah or Rebekah had compelled her in the past, but this was for the future. She didn't trust Elijah enough after all these years to not pull something like compulsion.

And unfortunately, her husband was a paranoid asshole who no doubt would try to compel her upon her eventual return.

Myriam wasn't worried, though. Kol always told her that she could outsmart anyone she wished, and perhaps she had gotten a little complacent over the last 100 years. Myriam had felt safe and loved, protected. She had built herself a beautiful life with her family, and she barely worked hard these days. It had become more natural to do things as a vampire.

She spent the next 30 years in Europe. Occasionally travelling around - and yes, her mother's painting had indeed perished in Cadiz, but she explored more houses that had been in her possession after taking her revenge on her family. And sold all of the valuables or gave it away to people who could use it.

When the demon who she had put on Katerina Petrova many years ago alerted her that her behaviour had become unusual, Myriam took her new toys and tea with her and went back to America. And back to Klaus.

1851

The mansion was far too quiet upon arrival. It had been dented over the years, no doubt of the various vampire fights inside the house, and the servers didn't want to let her in at first, until she just ignored them and headed straight for the bedroom she used to share with Klaus. His scent was faint but still lingered, so she knew that he was going to come back at some point. The servants were still here.

To kill some time, she scattered some of her Dark Objects around the home for some extra protection and sat down on the porch, waiting for her husband to return while she sipped on a glass of wine.

"What are you doing here?"

She looked up to see her husband leaning against one of the pillars and broke out in a smile before flinging herself at him. "I missed you!"

He managed to pry her off of him and pushed her away from him. "Then why did you leave? You left me. You. Abandoned. Me!"

"You saved a child, and instead of putting him with a normal human family, you decided to raise him as your own son!" Myriam countered angrily. "Without consulting me, your wife! Because I would have said 'no'!"

"That's why you left? Because of Marcel?"

"Oh, that's what you named him?" Myriam raised an eyebrow. "Yes. I'm not a mother and the last time I had one was over a century ago. You should have talked to me about keeping him and not simply assume that I was going to help you with the child! What did you do with him? Is he still human? No, you turned him, didn't you?" The look on Klaus' face said enough. Of course, he did. He had grown to care for the boy. "If you wanted to raise someone, something, we could have gotten a puppy!"

"You could have stayed! We could have talked about this!"

"I tried!" Myriam countered angrily. "You didn't listen, so I left. But I'd never abandon you. You knew where I was the entire time. If only you'd have used your brain," she smiled kindly at him. "I love you, Klaus, but I don't like it that you make lifelong decisions, like taking care of a child, all by yourself. We're a team. You and I."

"Are you staying?"

"Unless you do something stupid again or ask me to do something for you? Yes," she said simply. "Because you're an idiot. But you're mine. My idiot. I will always come back to you."

"I've been lonely without you," he said as he closed the space between them and put his arms around her. "Without you… I felt lost."

"Were you faithful like I was?"

"Of course! What kind of question is that?"

She kissed him then and pulled him onto the bench to sit with her. She handed him a glass of bourbon and pulled him into her arms. "Tell me what you've been doing then."

"What? You didn't leave one of your minions behind when you left?"

"Yes, with the clear instructions to make sure you stayed safe, not to report back to me," Myriam huffed. "Unless you want me to ask him, I mean, that's fine."

"No," he replied with a sigh. "Elijah took a shine to Marcel about a year into us having him."

"Oh, I don't think that went well…"

"Elijah was doing a better job at tutoring young Marcel than I was. So, I undaggered Kol. Now, let me tell you, he was not happy, but he understood why you wanted to dagger him, and I'm sure that he'll eventually apologise to you in person."

"How long did it take for you to dagger him again?"

Klaus took a sip of his bourbon and hung his head. "A couple of days later. I wanted to make him feel better after he got out of the box, so we slaughtered a tenement building, we had quite the fun. But he crossed the line when he staged a Shakespeare play for Marcellus with compelled humans. Slaughtered them in front of him and even fed the boy his blood!"

"I can't believe I missed that! That would have been epic!" Myriam barked out a laugh. "He was jealous, just like you were!"

He shrugged then. "Kol's more agreeable with you around. I decided to provoke the witches, too. You know, for them to cover up my indiscretions. The townsfolk drowned Celeste Dubois, Elijah's lover, in a bathtub for punishment."

She ran a hand through his hair and smiled at him. "I love your brilliant mind."

"And a decade and a half ago I daggered Rebekah. She had once again fallen for the wrong man; Marcel. I gave him a choice; I'd keep Rebekah daggered and turn him, or, I'd undagger her and have him live out his natural human life. I only did so when his own father shot him in the chest when Marcel was freeing a slave."

Myriam pursed her lips then. She had smelled the absence of Rebekah in the home, and now she knew why. "Good, now I can fuck around with him." At least it seemed like the boy had a good heart, but still, she knew she would never like him.

"You will do nothing of the sort!"

She huffed. "You can't stop me, he's the reason I went away!"

He enjoyed being in her arms for a long, silent moment between the two of them. "What have you been up to then, love?"

"I remodelled some buildings," she shrugged. "And I went to your house in Cadiz, but it got burned down. My mom's painting was still in there, wasn't it?"

He slowly nodded as he eyed her. "That's all you did over there?"

"And poked some remaining Medici's. Had one work for me for a while, but then a little birdie told me that I should come back to America to have fun with the vampire Kol and I encountered in Florence the first time round."

"You're going to leave me again?!"

"No," she smiled at him and tenderly kissed him. "I've sent some demons over to keep an eye on the vampire. I'm staying. I told you. I'm staying."

Klaus sighed then. "I had anticipated a fight upon your return."

"Are you disappointed?"

"Perhaps a little," he admitted with a smile on his face.

"Because of the good sex that usually follows after?" She asked suggestively. They had their fallouts over the years, but the makeup sex was always worth it. Myriam merely felt that she shouldn't feel angry anymore about something that had happened three decades ago. "I'd never turn down good sex, mon Loulou."

He gently took her hand. "Then please join me in our bedroom in our new home in the Quarter. We have a lot of catching up to do."

~o.O.o~

1863

They had only arrived back in New Orleans after their five year trip across the sea to Europe because she had insisted he'd leave the city, and she wanted to show him the properties that were still in her name. She figured he was going to need them one day, mainly because they hadn't heard from Mikael in a very long time.

Mikael's presence was long overdue, and even Klaus was getting a little paranoid. And thus, during their five years away, they had come up with a battle plan in case things would go wrong. Just her and Klaus. Find safe places to hide, to disappear. Myriam would act as his liaison, his gatekeeper, sort to speak, should Mikael make the family scatter.

However, part of that plan was for Myriam to adopt a new last name as her own was ancient, and it'd still raise eyebrows. Myriam had to become ordinary. Klaus came up with the last name of Jenkins, and a new middle name as Hope. Because hope was what she was to him, amongst many other things. Myriam Hope Jenkins.

They compelled a random woman in Austria to sign over Myriam's properties over to her and invite them both into all of them. Then, they had the woman go to a lawyer and set up a will for all the properties to be put back in Myriam's name once the woman died. And then they made her forget.

But for now, she was still Myriam d'Medici, they were still safe. For how long they didn't know.

She rolled into Klaus with a sigh and gently kissed his chest to wake him up from his slumber. One of her demons had alerted her to a potential problem brewing in the village where Klaus, Kol, Rebekah, and Elijah were born, and she knew that he didn't want to return there just yet. It wasn't the right time.

And the right time would be when there was another doppelganger so he could finally break his curse and become the person who he always was, underneath. It could take a very long time, and fortunately, he had grown patient. But the potential problem was going to be a problem in the long run or could be one in the long run, and she needed to make sure nothing irreversible would happen. "Mon LouLou," she whispered as she kissed him along his jawline. "I fear for your village, the newly founded town of Mystic Falls. Do I have your permission to go and have a look?"

"Why?" Klaus groaned as he rubbed his eyes and turned a little to look at her. "I want you by my side, Myriam."

"And I always will be, but we've also talked about more protection for you and the family, and I feel that I need to go and have a look. I'll come home every few weeks, I promise."

"But we've just gotten back to New Orleans, must you really leave this soon?"

"Just to make sure they won't ruin your future playground."

"And what is going on then?"

She shrugged. "It seems like a few vampires are living there and a Bennett witch, they might cause trouble," she then let out a long, exasperated sigh. "And my demon informed me that the Bennett witch is a friend of Katerina Petrova."

"How dare you say that name in our bed!" Angry, Klaus sat up and looked at her. "You killed the mood!"

"I'm merely being honest!" Myriam defended herself. "That bitch is a manipulative one, I don't want her to ruin your playground for you! The village you come from! I've never been, and I'm asking your permission instead of leaving without telling you!"

"You'd still leave if I refuse."

"Yes," she huffed as she sat up and looked at him. "Because Mystic Falls is close to New Orleans and she might be scheming to hurt you or our family!"

He looked at her and knew that she wasn't going to let up. She was stubborn like that. But as an original vampire, and her sire, he could tell her to stay. Command her to stay with him. "Listen closely, Myriam. You're not leaving my side. I want you with me. Have I made myself clear?"

"Asshole," she pushed him away and got out of bed. "I would have thought that maybe Elijah would try to compel me to get away from you, to convince me that you're the worst and that I should run. But you! You tried to compel me!" She started to get dressed, anger coursing through her veins. "You betrayed my trust!"

"Why didn't it work?"

"And you're not even denying it!"

Klaus got off the bed and pushed her against the nearest wall. "Tell me!" he demanded.

"I've been ingesting vervain for the last four decades!" Myriam slapped his cheek. "Because I'd like to keep my own mind, thank you very much!"

"You don't trust me!"

"I do! I don't trust your brother!" she yelled at him. "Now, let me go! I promise I'll come back in a few weeks, but I need to do this to make sure you're safe!"

"You don't trust me!" he let go of her, got dressed and stormed out, followed by a lot of crashing and breaking of things.

She followed him out and stopped him before kissing him, hard. "I love you, Niklaus Mikaelson. I trust you with everything inside of me, but I don't trust your brother. That's why I've been ingesting vervain. Not because of you, but because of your brother. And it hurts that you broke that trust by doing the exact thing that I feared from your brother. You have no reason to act like this. I'm not an Original. I need to protect myself somehow. I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Aside from running away!"

"I'm not running away! I'm going to take care of things, and I will be back!" she shot at him. "I will come back!"

"Will you leave some of your pets behind? For me?"

She blinked at him then. "Are you sure?"

"Thanks to that one you left with me before we arrived here in New Orleans, I knew where to find you. If you hadn't, you would have bled out. I want you to leave one or two of them with me. So that they can keep an eye on me, and they can report back to you. Please."

She smiled at him then as she took his hand and led him back to the bedroom. "I will."


	9. Chapter 9

1863

She had made sure that she had taken a few of her trinkets with her with her trusty pets, and also a few empty ones but those were connected to the ones she had left behind in New Orleans. Myriam was also wearing a necklace that her witch had spelt for her to appear human to the supernatural. It was always easy to figure out who was human or not as a vampire or even as a werewolf and Myriam did not want to take any chances.

She pretended to be a Civil War widow who was looking for a quieter place to deal with her grief and found herself in the biggest room of the local inn. Soon she found herself to be invited for tea by most of the founding families, all finding Myriam incredibly brave for trying to move on with her life so soon. Of course, they were after money, so Myriam gave the town just enough to remain interesting.

She sent weekly telegrams to Mr Jenkins in New Orleans, keeping him up to date with what she was doing, it was easier to send telegrams when in the same country than when on another continent. But within a month she knew all the key players in Mystic Falls and knew all of their dirty little secrets.

There were the Fells, with Thomas Fell being reverent of Fell's Church, and his wife Honoria was a dressmaker and a frequent visitor of Pearl's Apothecary. Myriam suspected the woman to be addicted to something and the excuse of 'looking out for the citizens' was getting a bit tiresome. Honoria Fell was a meddler. Always sticking her nose in business that she had no part of.

William Forbes was the local sheriff, and he loved the ladies. He simply couldn't keep his hands off of them. He especially liked them exotic, and Myriam had broken his hand when he touched her inappropriately.

Johnathan Gilbert was a man after Myriam's own heart. He was the mad scientist of Mystic Falls, always trying to invent some gizmo or another and she found him utterly fascinating. Because none of the gizmo's worked until he took them to the town's witch, Emily Bennett, who turned them into her kind of Dark Objects. Like William Forbes, he liked exotic women and Pearl was his favourite. Myriam had to be careful around him, but he was the smart one in town. His journals were filled with ideas on the supernatural, and he knew that Emily was a witch, and thus, he was one to watch.

The Lockwoods were dangerous. Myriam's pets had already warned her about them because they were werewolves. Untriggered or not. One was the mayor, the other a Confederate soldier. It was likely that the both of them were triggered and Myriam really hated wolves. Whenever she interacted with them, she always thought of the day where she tore apart the Crescent pack in New Orleans for nearly killing her.

Giuseppe Salvatore was the town drunk and a businessman. He was also one of the Founders and had lost his wife a few years prior to consumption. While Myriam could relate to his pain, she hated it that he was abusive. Or had an abusive past. His son Stefan was cute as a button, but Myriam could tell that he harboured a dark side, even more so than other humans. And Stefan was hanging out with the wrong crowd, he had an attraction to the dark side alright, and dating Valerie was a part of that. Valerie was a siphoner witch and kicked out of her own coven. Her friend Julian was a vampire, older than Myriam herself, but he was a slick bastard. He ran a kissing booth to aid the Confederate soldiers at the fair and Myriam stayed well clear of him.

There was another Salvatore brother, Damon. For a while, she hadn't seen him because he was a Confederate soldier and then he abandoned the post and returned home to look after his baby brother. And Damon was hot. Mysterious. Hot. Dark brown hair, almost black, and piercing blue eyes. He seemed to lack a sense of direction though. His impulses always got the better of him, but Myriam couldn't help but be fascinated by him.

Myriam found it hilarious that the house the Salvatores lived in looked like the Governor's Mansion in New Orleans. It was likely that they had used the same architect.

Pearl ran an Apothecary under the guise of that she was a widower and had learned medicine from her husband who had perished shortly after their daughter Anna was born. Pearl and Anna were both vampires, and while Anna looked part Asian, there was no doubt that these two weren't even related. Merely good friends and their mother/daughter act protection. Pearl was infatuated by Johnathan Gilbert, and Myriam had seen them kissing in secret.

And then there was Emily Bennett. Like Pearl, she wasn't part of the founding families or on the Town's council, but she was a real piece of work. A witch, and a powerful one at that. The first time Myriam had followed her out of town was to Atlanta, where she was meeting up with Katerina Petrova. Katerina was still in hiding because of Niklaus but wanted a change of scenery soon, and that's why Pearl, Anna, and Emily were in Mystic Falls, to gauge the citizens and make sure it was a safe place for their friend.

Myriam was glad that she went to Mystic Falls to keep an eye out. Her demon had been correct, something was brewing in the little town of Mystic Falls, and it had everything to do with Katerina Petrova. Or, Katherine Pierce, as she was now known.

"So, who's this Mr Jenkins you always send a telegram to?"

Myriam looked up from the book she was reading in the town square and smiled when she looked at the face of her friend. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I want to know, that's why I'm asking," Damon sat down next to her and took the book out of her hands, frowning at the title. " _The Scarlet Letter_? And here I thought you were a nice girl!"

"I am a nice girl," she smiled as she grabbed her book back. "It's a good book, especially when you realize the historical impact the book has, even its release was only 13 years ago."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"It explores the darker side of humanity. Guilt. Sin. Adultery. Evil. Because we all have a bit of that inside us, you know. Hester is a victim of adultery after having had intercourse with a Puritan pastor and has to wear a red A on her vest at all times for having an illegitimate child while he remains free and unburdened by it. Because nobody knows. And also because he's a man," she explained. "This must be the first book to write about the dark side of humanity in this kind of way, hence why it's so fascinating."

Damon smirked as he took the book out of her hands again and started to read. "I'm not one for books, but I might read this one."

She retook her book and put it in her purse. "And you may after I'm done reading it."

He huffed as he crossed his arms over each other and leaned back against the bench. "You still haven't answered my question. Who is Mr Jenkins?"

"Who do you think it is?"

"At first I thought he might be your lover. But you're a war widow, and so I don't know."

"I could be a widow and have a lover, Damon," she smiled at him. "The world isn't all that black and white, you know. But you're right, it would be very improper to move on from my husband's heroic demise this fast."

"Although you could have been sinning while you were still married to your husband," Damon pointed out. "I believe that married women can be just as sinful as married men."

"True," Myriam nodded. "But Mr Jenkins is not my lover. He's my confidant back home. He chose not to make this journey with me because he wishes me to get through this grief by myself to come out of it stronger. But he would only let me go when I'd send him a telegram each week."

"And you're not dressed in black."

"I don't like rules," she shrugged. "And neither did my husband. I'm honoring his memory by living the way that we did; unconventional. Why do clothes need to express how I feel on the inside? Black is such a dreadful color on me, and I like to look pretty."

He laughed then, shaking his head. "You do know what the rumors about you are in town, don't you?"

"I never listen. I don't see why you are. You know me, right? Like me for who I am?"

"You're coloring outside the lines just enough to be seen as eccentric, and that's beautiful. The world would be a boring place when everyone would be the same. As long as you're not hurting anyone, you're alright in my book," he then scooted over a little and put an arm around her. "But, can I give you some advice?"

Myriam let out a sigh and nodded. "Go on then."

"I know you're recently widowed and all… but you're a woman in your prime. Traditionally, someone, your age would have babies already."

"Someone my age? Damon! I'm only a few years older than you!"

"And my dear Mother was 19 when I arrived."

She blinked at him then. "Are you saying that you and I should become a couple?"

"Oh, hell no!" Damon rolled his eyes at her. "You're so not my type. The long brown hair, sure, but no. Thanks. But you're also unprotected, a woman alone. The inn is not safe with all the rowdy folk in there… you know… they could take advantage of you. Now, I don't see you hooking up with Sheriff Forbes. He's a jerk and a slimeball. Gilbert… no. Everyone else is married, and I really don't want you to become my stepmother and have my dad beat you to a pulp. No," he sighed. "What you need is someone as eccentric when you are."

"I'm not ready for someone else, Damon," she laughed nervously. He wasn't wrong, though. Perhaps she should have taken it into account that she was going to stand out like a sore tooth being childless and all. She couldn't wait for the time to come where women would be equal to men, or that being childless wasn't a shame.

"My uncle Zak is coming to town, he wants to settle here. I'm pretty sure you'll like him."

"Damon!"

"I'm serious!"

"And I'm serious too!" she shot at him as she got to her feet. "I-I'll think about it. But first, I need to get ready, I need to travel home for a few days to take care of some family business… and Thanksgiving. Mr Jenkins and I always spend Thanksgiving together."

"You're running away."

"No. I need to do this. Don't worry, I'll be back soon," she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it before walking away. She was going home sooner than expected, but she needed to go. Damon meant well, and always meant well, but she hadn't been prepared for this. She felt as if he knew that she was hiding something, that he could see right through her, much like Kol and Klaus did. And she hated him for it. But also loved him for it. He was a true friend.

She left in a carriage after, and after two hours she stopped them and compelled the man before running the rest of the way. She didn't stop running until she arrived in New Orleans and ran straight into Klaus' arms, smothering him as she kissed him and pushed him against the nearest wall.

"I wasn't expecting you home for another few weeks," Klaus said after she stopped kissing him to look at him. "What made you come running home?"

"Nothing," she lied as she kissed him again. "Make love to me, Klaus."

"You're lying," he broke off the kiss with a playful smile on his face. "Tell me, or no sex."

"Sex first, then I'll tell you," she bargained as she pawed at his trousers to open them.

He took her hands and kissed them. "No."

"Please," she begged him. "I want to-"

He lifted her into his arms and brought her upstairs where he sat her down on a chair in his study and poured her a drink. He then sat down on his hunches in front of her and put his arms on her legs for support. "What happened?"

Myriam downed her glass in one go and sighed. "Nothing. Something stupid."

"Still not helpful, sweetheart," he pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "It's a small town, what could have possibly sent you running?"

"I hadn't thought things through, that's all."

"Darling, you're not making sense. Tell me what happened, so I know who to kill, or not to kill."

"No, you're not going to kill Damon!" Myriam replied, shaking her head. "No, he made sense. And… ugh. I ran for something stupid. He told me that it'd be better if I'd be with someone so I can still have children at my age! He made me sound as if I'm some sort of spinster! Like I don't have a life!"

"Well," he smiled at her. "You are playing a character, aren't you? You're Myriam Hawthorne, who has lost her husband in the war and you have a confidant called Mr Jenkins. Of course, you don't have children, because you're barren, and your former husband loved you anyway despite knowing that he wouldn't be able to have progeny. That's admirable."

Myriam huffed.

Klaus laughed then and shook his head. "I know it's difficult to hide the parts of your true self when pretending, but consider this practice for when it's truly needed. When one of these days Mikael will come and break us up."

"But it is truly needed! Things are… strange in the village you were born in!"

"Would you like to come back with you?"

"No!"

"You could always remain here, with me, as I wanted you to in the beginning."

"No, because I found something out for which I need to go back to play with it," she suddenly remembered why she wanted to go in the first place. "I'm going to make sure that the town will be near perfect for when you need it in the future."

"I don't understand why you want to do that."

"For you," she kissed him. "And for me, a little. Playthings," she kissed him again as he was still holding her hands. "Sex now?"

~o.O.o~

"So," Myriam said as she looped her arm through Damon's as they walked along the path. "I've given your idea some thought, I've talked it over with my confidant, and we believe that it's a good idea, but your uncle would need to know something beforehand."

"And what would that be?"

"It's not something a woman likes to discuss, but it's of importance."

"Okay?"

Myriam sighed as she looked up at him. "My husband wasn't merely a war hero, he was the sweetest and kindest man I'd ever wished. Unconventional, like me. When he started to court me, I felt bad because he had expressed a wish for children and I didn't want to break his heart later on. I decided to be forward about it to let him off easy. And I told him. I can't have children."

He blinked at her. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Myriam. I didn't know, I-"

"It's alright," she smiled at him. "I've made peace with it, and my husband didn't mind either. He saw the positive sides of being childless. One; we could adopt as many pets as we wanted and Two; we could spend the time lost playing and caring for our children together instead. But I can't give your uncle children, and I'm not sure if you want to do that to him."

"You could tell him that yourself, you'd be surprised. But are you sure?"

Myriam nodded. "When I was little, I had a bad accident, and I ended up with a pole through my abdomen. They had to remove my uterus because it was badly damaged."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," she playfully smacked his arm. "Take me to your uncle, introduce us. Please."

~o.O.o~

1864

Zak Salvatore was a kind human, a patient man as well. She had started to compel him to believe that they were having intercourse after a few months of his courting and moved into the Salvatore home around Easter. Giuseppe was an asshole, and with Myriam now close to her best friend, she did everything she could to stop Giuseppe from being an asshole. Either by compulsion or her demons.

She really was playing the long-con on this. Biding her time, whispering in the Founder's council's ear every now and then about vampires and werewolves. It was quite easy to do when Giuseppe was out cold due to his drinking. Myriam was putting a lot of money into Mystic Falls to build a school and the conservation of the woodlands surrounding the town, and on top of that, she did a lot of charity work.

The Founders rewarded her efforts with her putting her name on the town's charter and allowed her to build a home for herself - and perhaps to share with Zak Salvatore. Of course, to celebrate, she sent a telegram to Mr Jenkins and for him to send an architect over to draw up plans for her home. It had to be fit for royalty.

The house was up by August, and she loved it. The furniture was exquisite, with the furniture coming out of 'her former home' and Zak hated it. He didn't want to live in the house she had built because she'd been charitable, or hobnobbing with the founders council. In fact, he didn't want anything to do with the council because he hated politics. So, he found her new home tainted.

She decided to compel him to give up hope that she'd ever recover from the death of her husband and let him go. Despite Damon being delighted that she was protected while she was around his uncle, she could take care of herself. The home she had built was secure.

She went home for a week and returned just in time to see Katherine Pierce arrive with her handmaiden Emily Bennett, Emily being able to open doors for Katherine because she'd been spending time in Mystic Falls already, colluding with Johnathan Gilbert. And she also knew that this was the point where she had to remain out of sight because Katerina would surely recognise her.

Myriam did go along with her charitable cases, and her dinners with most of the Founding families, while she also kept an eye on Damon and Stefan. Katerina had somehow found a way to stay at the Salvatore home - no doubt through compulsion. The bitch had to stay away from her friend.

She invited Damon over for dinner at her place, there were servants in the house now - out of New Orleans and compelled, of course - and he nearly fell backwards when he saw the wealth of it all. "I didn't know you came from money!"

"Well, you must have suspected something. It's not as if I was discrete in my donations to the town," Myriam laughed as she lead him into the dining room. "Besides, it's mostly my husband's money. I figured that the council giving me a plot of land was a sign from him to rebuild my life here, and that he'd have wanted for me to live a life of luxury."

"This is nuts!"

"You're more than welcome to stay here if you'd like. As long as you keep your lodger away from me."

"What? Katherine?" Damon smiled at her. "Katherine is a lovely girl! She's beautiful and funny and everything you'd want in a girl. Or what I want."

"And she's also seducing your brother."

"Eh, I'll win, I have the better cheekbones," he winked at her. "She's an orphan, did you know that?"

"Really?" Myriam sat down on one of the chairs and motioned for Damon to do the same, as she thought of recent happenings that made the news. "Let me guess, the sole survivor of that fire in Atlanta."

"Yes!" he exclaimed before blinking at her. "How do you know? Did you two talk?"

She smiled at him as she reached for her glass of wine. "No, but I know how people like her operate. She's not an orphan, Damon. She's a con-artist."

"You're just jealous because she has both me and Stefan wrapped around her little finger."

"Are you even hearing yourself, Damon?"

"And are you hearing yourself? I mean, you sound as if you're a jealous ex-girlfriend!"

"I am trying to protect you!"

"From a girl? Please!"

"She's a vampire!"

"I know!"

"What?" Myriam blinked. "You know?"

"Yeah, she told me. How do you know?"

Myriam bit her lip then, surprised that Katerina had been so upfront with her friend. How did she know? She could hardly tell him that she was a vampire too. "Have you ever heard of Voodoo?"

"Witchcraft?"

"Yeah, I suppose it's a kind of witchcraft. It doesn't actually require magic, to work though. I'm not a witch. But sometimes I command a spirit to investigate people for me because that's how I'm keeping safe," she explained. There was no need to tell him that she actually played with demons for the most part, because she had found them more easy to control. "And I always leave one behind when I head out of town to deal with family business. So, upon my return, my spirit could tell me who was new in town, and what they were."

"That is so cool, Myriam!"

"Damon," she whined. "You clearly don't see the danger in anything, do you? Vampires are nothing but trouble, and you definitely need to stay away from her. I don't want her to hurt you or to get yourself killed."

"Relax."

"She, Pearl and Anna have already turned a sizeable amount of humans into vampires in this town, haven't you heard your dad talk about his adventures with the council? I heard that Johnathan is inventing something that can detect them, and then what? The council will kill them all."

"No they won't," he huffed. "And even if they'd figure it all out, Katherine is always a step ahead, and she'd leave before anything would happen to her."

"And leave you behind. You don't have a future with her, Damon. I want you to find a real girl, settle down, have babies."

"Myriam, I love you, you're my friend. But you can't tell me how to live my life, you can't tell me who I can or can't see. Her secret and yours is safe with me. I won't tell anyone."

"Not even when the entire town turns into vampires?"

"If you're so worried about that, why won't you leave? Pick up your things and move elsewhere?"

"I happen to like Mystic Falls just the way it is."

"And you're biased against vampires. Katherine isn't evil. Not in the slightest," he replied. "So what she's making some friends of her own kind? She's lonely!"

Myriam sighed, knowing that she was fighting a losing battle. "Just be careful. You're my friend, I don't want to lose you."

"Now where's the fun in that?"

~o.O.o~

Myriam spent some time with Honoria Fell, who, like her husband, was concerned about the rising vampire population and Myriam had gifted her a book on herbs. Sure, Honoria was a simple dressmaker, but Myriam told her that she had used the book to create some herbal creams for her sores and what not so that she didn't have to go to the Apothecary that much.

And as it happened, she had opened the book on Vervain. "Oh! I forgot about this one!" Myriam said excitedly. "This is your key to making sure the vampires can't make any more! They're allergic to Vervain!"

Myriam taught her how to make the vervain into an elixir, and then Honoria brought a lot of bottles over to Pearl to sell it at a reduced rate. Branding it something to boost health and longevity, it'd always sell well with humans.

Myriam was an honored guest at the first Founder's party and much to her surprise, Katerina was attending too. Or perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised because she was accompanied by both Damon and Stefan. But this was great. It was going to be a great test to see if her lies held up because Katerina was inevitably going to recognise her from their time in Florence.

She danced some with Damon after putting her name on the guest list and spoke to Honoria who was excited to inform her that the elixirs were selling well and that she was already making more. Myriam suggested that in dry form, mixed with some dried fruits, it made for an excellent tea, too, and Honoria got even more excited, thinking of ways to incorporate them in the cakes they sold at the church and what not.

It took some time for Katerina to approach Myriam, mainly because Myriam kept mingling when not dancing and decided to open the game by going to a quieter part of the Lockwood mansion so that Katerina would feel safer to come at her. And of course, she had Damon by her side when she did so. "Katherine Pierce, I want you to meet my best friend Myriam Hawthorne," he introduced her. "Myriam has been living here for over a year now, ever since her husband didn't return from the war."

"You!" Katherine said as she looked at Myriam and narrowed her eyes as recognition sank in. "How are you still alive?"

"Excuse me?" Myriam blinked innocently before looking at Damon. "Is your friend feeling alright, Damon?"

"I actually have no idea," he said as he scratched his head and looked at Katherine. "What's going on?"

"She tortured me in Florence! Over a hundred years ago!" she screeched. "She's insane!"

"Over a hundred years ago?" Myriam countered thoughtfully. "Wow, that's amazing, seeing as I'm 27 years old and I've never been outside of America. Are you sure you're feeling alright, Miss Pierce? Perhaps you need to sit down, have a drink of water?" Before Myriam knew it, she was up against a wall. "Oh dear lord… she's a-"

"Don't say it!" Damon hissed.

"You smell human," Katherine blinked as she tried to sniff Myriam again. "How is that possible?"

"Because she is human, now let her go," Damon said as he tried to pull Katherine off of his friend. "What's gotten into you?"

"How are you human!" she demanded as she let go of Myriam, who sank to the floor, rubbing her neck. "Tell me!"

"I am human, you crazy bitch!" Myriam countered angrily before composing herself. "But this has happened to me before, perhaps I merely have one of those faces you know," she shrugged as Damon helped her to her feet. "I've read about Doppelgangers. That everyone has one?"

Katherine narrowed her eyes at Myriam. "What?"

"She's a bookworm," Damon sighed as he looked at Katherine. "You may want to compel her, she might spill the beans on you at the next council meeting."

Oh, that's right. She told Damon she wasn't a witch, which meant that she would be able to be compelled. But vampires couldn't compel other vampires. Myriam had to once again, act, but she couldn't wait to go home and laugh her ass off.

Katherine huffed before approaching Myriam again, who took a step back out of instinct. Perhaps she was human, after all. "Don't worry, I will not hurt you... Again," she sighed as she looked the woman in the eye. "You will forget that we've had this meeting and you will not remember that I am a vampire. You're going to excuse yourself from this party, and you're going home to sleep off the alcohol you've ingested. Understood?"

"I understand," Myriam replied as she then looked at Damon with a big, sloppy grin on her face. "I think I'd better go home, the alcohol is getting to me."

"Do you want an escort home?"

"No, I'll be fine," Myriam smiled brightly. "Could you inform the Lockwoods? I truly enjoyed their party."

"Of course. Good night, Myriam."

"Good night, Damon," she smiled as she sauntered towards the door, bumping into one of the side tables with a giggle before getting out the door. After it closed, she spat off to her home and burst out in laughter.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, the whole council was up at arms, ready to swoop down and gather all the vampires in Mystic Falls with help from the Gilbert device that could tell if a person was a vampire or not, courtesy of Emily Bennett's enchantment on it. Myriam was on the border of Mystic Falls and had her servants put sheets over everything, pack her belongings and put it on a coach towards New Orleans.

She wanted to go into town and say goodbye to Damon, but it was such a mess already that she decided to leave, she'd find him later and send him a postcard or a telegram or maybe even visit him in person.

But she had to get out of Mystic Falls and hoped for the best. She left a few of her demons behind to keep an eye on things, re-attached a new demon to Katerina after releasing the one who had kept an eye on her for so long and started running. Halfway to New Orleans, she stopped to compel a human to go back to Mystic Falls in a couple of days to pretend that he was Mr Jenkins and to bring a burned body back with him. She had killed and burned a woman with her stature for good measure. She also handed him some money with precise instructions for her headstone, and had him visit the local lawyer as well to make sure that her home would stay 'in the family.'

"You smell a little singed around the edges, love," Klaus greeted her upon her arrival back in New Orleans. "Did you have a little adventure?"

Myriam huffed. "They were rounding up the vampires in Mystic Falls, so I ran away, had to fake my own death. Involved some burning. She tasted nice, though," she replied as she jumped into his arms and kissed him hard. "I'm staying. I'm not going back, but the house is ours."

"Did you have some fun?"

She bit her lip as she looked at him and nodded.

"Are you ever going to tell me why this was so important to you?"

"It's something Kol and I started in 1699, Florence. I bet he would have loved to have seen me fooling everyone and especially her."

"I know that you and my brother were dealing with a female vampire of my line, but you never told me who." They were still standing in the middle of the courtyard, Myriam with her legs wrapped around him and him holding her. "Are you ever going to tell me?"

She sat back on his lap and stared at him with her lips pressed together as if to hold the whole story in. Nodding once, she gave him a quick kiss. "Yes, one day. But not today. This is a long game I'm playing with her, and when we one day come across her together, I want her rightfully afraid of me. Just know that I will make sure that she will one day pay for all her sins and debts to everyone she had ever toyed with and betrayed."

"And are you ever going to tell me who this female vampire is? I've made a lot of enemies, you know."

"And no doubt you're going to gather a lot more," she replied, shaking her head again. "It'll be a surprise. But I promise it'll be one you're going to love." She then wiggled her butt a little to shimmy down his body. "Make love to me."

Klaus let out a chuckle and took her to the dining room to splay her out over the dining table. "I love it when you take charge."

~o.O.o~

It hadn't even been two full days after she'd left Mystic Falls when one of her demons came back to her and informed her about Damon and Stefan's transition into a vampire, and she was furious. No, she was beyond furious, and she wanted to smash things, kill things, but especially, murder Katerina Petrova for ruining two perfect young men and robbing them of any chance of having a family.

It got worse when another demon returned and told her that the bitch hadn't been locked up under the church like she was supposed to have been because of a fucking Lockwood and Emily Bennett interfering. Klaus stopped her rampage just in time as she was just about to tear into some of his favourite portraits. "What's wrong, love?" he asked as he held her, he could feel her anger and frustration coursing through her veins. Oh, she was murderous alright.

"The fucking bitch turned my friends, and the fucking bitch didn't die when she was supposed to thanks to a fucking wolf and a fucking witch!" Myriam seethed as she tried to wrestle herself out of Klaus' hold. "Let go of me!"

"Love, you destroyed half of our home, I'm not letting you go until you've calmed down."

She glared at him then, before realising that she could get revenge on the witch, at least. Grasping one of her bracelets she commanded the demon to possess one of the city council and accuse Emily Bennett of witchcraft and that she needed to be burned at the stake. Upon completion of his mission, he was going to stay with Damon and return to her on a daily basis to inform her about Damon's wellbeing.

After she sent her demon away, she relaxed somewhat. "I'm fine, I'm going to Débauche. I believe we had plans to expand yet again."

"How about you have something to eat first? There are some delicious criminals in our basement, I caught them just for you, and you can tear them up all you like."

Myriam looked at him with a bright smile on her face. "Really?"

"Have fun," he smiled at her before letting her go and watching her run towards the basement. Not soon after, the compound filled with loud screams, the thudding of body parts flying all over and generally the fall out of Myriam being messy. In a way, she reminded him of Kol when she did that. But Myriam was usually very gentle with her kills unless she was emotional and needed to let off some steam.

After a couple of minutes, he followed her down, and she was happily sitting on the floor surrounded by pools of blood and limbs stacked onto neat little piles. She was breaking off fingers of hands and placed them in a small circle as well. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"I'm still enjoying myself," she smirked. "Stay there. I'm going to try to do something a little bigger than what I'm used to. That bitch will have me in her nightmares forever."

Klaus nodded as he leaned against the doorpost looking at her. "Do you require anything else?"

"No, I'm good," she replied as she took one of her bracelets and started to pull it apart to put the beads into one of the pools of blood. "I have my blood, I have my demons, I have my stones… and I have my very clear intentions." She rubbed her bloodied hands together in glee and closed her eyes as she loosened the muscles in her shoulders. Myriam then started to chant in French.

It took about fifteen minutes for her to finish up whatever she'd started but when she was done, she broke out in a big broad smile. "She's going to have great dreams until she dies," she then let out a deep, relieved breath. "Oh, that felt so good!"

He helped her to get to her feet and kissed her. "I have theatre reservations for tonight, do you wish to come?"

"Of course! Let me get cleaned up and make myself look presentable."

"Love, you always look presentable to me!"

~o.O.o~

1901

She made sure no one was at home when she snuck off to the cellar where Klaus kept Finn and Kol in their coffins. He had undaggered Rebekah a few years prior, and while Rebekah was fun to have around, she wasn't fun. Klaus and mainly Elijah were doing a lot of politics and doing good for the city and usually not around.

While Myriam had her business to run, her friend Isabella did a great job without her, and she felt obsolete. Klaus had suggested making nice with the witches once again, but apart from the Tremé witches, Myriam couldn't quite get along with most of them. But she knew who would. And he was currently still boxed.

But not for long. Pulling the dagger out of Kol's chest, she made sure that a handful of servants were there for him to feed on while she leaned against the wall. Kol was still an Original vampire and friend or not, he was likely going to be very upset with her for daggering him after setting fire to her club.

He did take his sweet time to wake up, long enough for her to start snacking on one of the servants, a beautiful young girl with sweet virgin blood. "You don't know what you're missing," she mumbled as she fed before the girl was yanked out of her arms by Kol who drained the girl immediately, killing her. He went on to the next, and the next one after that before he finally pinked up enough to have a normal conversation. "Welcome back."

"I can't believe you daggered me."

"That was before the last time you were daggered, get over it. You burnt my business to the ground."

"By accident!"

"By being careless when feeding!" Myriam countered angrily. "Do that again and you being daggered will be the least of your concerns!"

Kol scowled as he tore into another servant. "Does Nik know?"

"That I decided to get the dagger out? No. He's not home. Neither is Elijah nor Rebekah," she shrugged. "It's good to have you back, your room is still where you left it, and I took the liberty to add some clothes to your outdated wardrobe. Once you've freshened up, we're going to paint the town red."

"How red?"

"Not tenement building red."

"Ah, Niklaus told you?"

Myriam sighed and nodded. "I'm bummed that I had to miss that. I miss having fun with you. So stop being such a handful and stick around for a while, will you?"

"Sorry, darling, but Niklaus needs to pay for daggering me all the time. Elijah, too. They're all so big on family, and they never include me. Not since you came into our lives, and I'm still being daggered!"

"Because you're an idiot! Stop being one! I told you before, when I was still human even, that your temper and your bloodlust are the things that will get in your way every single time. Why don't you control them?"

"Because I don't want to!"

"Then stop being a whiny ass because this is your own fault!" she pointed at the coffin. "Now take a bath, freshen up, get into some new clothes, we're going out. You and I."

"Stop being mean then," he sulked as he ran off, leaving Myriam to deal with the bodies.

She showed him what had changed in New Orleans after he got daggered, showed him where most of the witches congregated and the best spots in town to have a nice little drink. When they got home after having drunk a lot of alcohol, Klaus and Elijah were waiting for them in the courtyard with a disapproving look on their faces. "What?" Myriam said innocently. "I was bored!"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Elijah questioned. "He can't be let loose on this city."

"Because he has impulse control issues? Tough. The tenement building that he and Klaus tore through wasn't his fault, it was Klaus'. At any point, Klaus could have stopped the both of them, but he didn't," Myriam replied. "Kol stays."

Elijah pinched his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Glaring at his sister-in-law, he shook his head. "I do not believe you understand the gravity of your actions, Myriam."

"For some reason, I have the feeling you always say that, like a broken record. If Klaus can undagger Kol for some fun, why can't I?"

"Myriam…"

"Kol stays."

"I am warning you," Elijah said as he decided to talk with hands again. "Undaggering him will be costly. He will let you down as he did before. He always does."

"And you need to start being more supportive of your baby brother," Myriam said as she looped her arm through Kol's and kissed him on the cheek. "Come, we're going out again. I'm going to show you around in Débauche, we have a bar now and all the good alcohol in the world."

"Are you sure you want to allow me anywhere near your club?"

"Just stay away from anything flammable and no touching the merchandise."

~o.O.o~

1914

Having Kol back was great for Myriam. He had some excellent ideas to protect Débauche even further, and he made nice with the witches that didn't like Myriam, mostly the French Quarter witches and those from the Garden District. He made it no secret towards her that he was up to something, scheming against his brother, and she didn't do anything to warn Klaus of it because they were both idiots and whatever Kol was going to try, it wouldn't work as Myriam had her current strongest demon watching over Klaus. Once Klaus would realise his brother was trying to make a move against him, paranoia would set in again, and Myriam and Klaus would have some great sex. Right now they just had sex. Boring sex because Klaus was currently very boring.

The witches started to get antsy after a little while though. People were contracting yellow fever after it had been believed to have died out, that the epidemic had been over, this flare-up was unusual. The Plague. Consumption. Weather patterns changed, and some thought that it was because another Mikaelson had been let loose on the city.

It was nothing but poor hygiene, famine and poor waste management that made these people sick. As for the weather, the weather was fickle anyway. Mother Nature liked joking around. Her own witches didn't believe the others and were trying to spread some sense around, but they had a hard time doing so.

But Myriam was glad that Rayna Cruz had left New Orleans. The vampire huntress had killed many good vampires of Klaus, and she had killed some of Myriam's friends. They had lived in fear for a good amount of years before she finally moved on. Myriam once had a close call with her, luckily she didn't get stabbed with Rayna's sword, but it did make her up the security around Débauche, and the demons around her and her family. It was what made Rayna wobble and slow down just a little. Long enough for them to scamper. Myriam had left New Orleans for five years after her close call with her, much to Klaus' dismay. Because how could she leave him in times of trouble?

Kol told her more and more about his ideas, and she feared that it might actually work. That the dagger he was going to have made by two witches would actually work on Klaus, despite the demon protection. While Mary-Alice Claire was devoted to Kol, she might actually have been in a relationship with him, Astrid Malchance was not. It was easier to whisper in Astrid's ear than in Mary-Alice's, and she told Astrid not to do her absolute best for Kol.

Kol also spoke about wiping out the witches loyal to Klaus, but any witch loyal to him were her own witches, and she wasn't too happy about that. So, for every day of Christmas, she gifted Kol a dead witch as a warning.

Oh, she stayed mostly away from the beef between the two brothers, but nobody was threatening her witches and getting away with it. Not even her best friend. She liked it, however, that he was having his witches make some more Dark Objects, some she hadn't thought of herself. Like the bracelet of obedience, not that she needed it because she was fine with commanding her demons. Or the Devil's Star. Oh, she'd liked to get her hands on that. One throw could make a thousand cuts. She could only imagine what kind of torture she could use it for.

However, she needed to find a way to get that Rosemary of Madness out of everyone else's hands. His witches had already made a few people go insane with it to instil fear into everyone, and it was simply too much. She could keep the blasted thing safe, with one of her own Dark Objects that nullified the effects of magical objects. After the war died down, she was going to steal it from Kol. Because she wanted it for herself. There was no way that she'd allow Kol to be able to wield something as powerful as that.

Myriam loved him, dearly, but the Rosemary of Madness was insane, and she didn't trust him with it. What if he was going to use it on her? Unlike him and his siblings, she was still susceptible to those kinds of things even with her personal protection.

Kol was a fucking idiot. During Sunday mass he used the Devil's Star to kill Dowager Fauline and half the parish in St. Anne's, only for the diamond the woman possessed, the diamond that would give Mary-Alice and Astrid enough power to create the dagger he wanted to have crafted to be used on Klaus.

Myriam was furious and had stalked them as they broke into the home at night. She had her most powerful witch by her side as she waited for Kol and the witches to come back out as they had so cleverly put a spell up that no one could enter the house while they were searching it. Once Kol was out, with the diamond in hand, she pulled him away from the door, and her witch reversed the spell, making it a boundary spell that witches inside the home could not get out of.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Myriam hissed as she snatched the diamond out of Kol's hand.

"Give that back! I told you, I found a way to get rid of Klaus and I'm moving forward with it, I don't care that he's your husband!" He then grabbed hold of Myriam's witch and killed her, hoping that it would release the boundary spell and that his puppets could get out of there. "What in the bloody hell, Myriam! You said you wouldn't interfere!"

"I understand why you're angry with Klaus, Kol. It's no fun being daggered for things you have no control over, but you're really skating on thin ice right now," she said as she pocketed the diamond and led him away from the house. "He doesn't need to know about the diamond and what your plans were with it. The massacre this morning can be put on you wanting to show everyone who runs this city; the Mikaelsons." She then reached for one of her bracelets and released the demon to oppress Kol, to make him relaxed and more docile. "Because the way Klaus will see this, will be betrayal and he will box you again. You don't go against the family, no matter how much you hate each other."

"I'm going to kill you."

"I'd like to see you try," she smiled at him. "But I might just have saved your ass. Unless you told someone else about your plans to neutralise my husband?"

"Rebekah would never. She's with me."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, _Mon Chou._ Don't do it again. You know better than I do that Klaus is a virtuoso when it comes to cramming his siblings into confined spaces. Which I'm trying to help you stay out of."

Christmas was fast approaching, she had 12 more dead witches to gift to Kol, and she and Rebekah happily went for a dress fitting for the annual Mikaelson Christmas Party. Rebekah opted for a bordeaux-red chiffon dress while Myriam went for a fiery red evening dress made out of silk with a net overlay with gold and silver starbursts on them. They both had opted for black opera gloves to complete their outfit.

And when Klaus saw her for the first time in her red dress, he sighed. "Love, do you really want all eyes on you?"

She smirked then. "But _Mon LouLou_ , you love being the centre of attention! With me by your side, you will be exactly that!"

He pulled her against him and kissed her. "I want to ravish you."

"Tonight, we still have a party to attend," she ran her hand through his hair and looked up at him through her lashes. "But do know that while I'm wearing my corset… I'm not wearing any panties," she whispered.

He let out a groan. "You're evil."

"And you have to be on your best behaviour," she said teasingly before exiting the room and started to mingle with the guests who had already begun to arrive. She managed to find Marcel and dragged him off to the dungeons to snap his neck. No party for him. This was something she did every Christmas Party because she really didn't like Marcel much. She still hated him for being the thing that had gotten between her and Klaus nearly a century ago.

Myriam then started to make her usual rounds, mingling with the guests. Some of Klaus' vampires, a small group of werewolves and witches and high ranking city officials who knew about the supernatural community. Myriam's demons were checking everyone out as usual, and they alerted her to a young woman dressed in blue, she was supposedly Kol's date but he was more into her than she was into him. "Something tells me that you scored a date with my brother in law just to attend our party," Myriam said as she took a sip of her wine while standing next to the girl.

"So what if I did?"

Myriam shrugged. "I've seen you two hang around in the past few weeks. It's a good thing that you're not falling for Kol's advances, which makes you score points in my book. You're also not here with an agenda, so your secret is safe with me. My name's Myriam."

"Freya," she replied as she kept an eye on the Mikaelsons who were on the stairs. "Uh, Emma."

"Sure, sure," Myriam smiled knowingly. "Don't worry, like I said, your secret is safe with me. You need to know that I'd do anything to protect my family. Long lost or not," she said as she looked at Elijah and listened to Klaus' words. "My apologies for what happens next, you won't like to see this," she sighed before she ran to the cellar to prepare Kol's coffin for him. Myriam didn't like to see him get daggered either, but that didn't mean that she couldn't make sure his coffin was clean and ready. And to attach a demon to it to keep Kol safe in case he'd ever get lost.

She turned around when she heard Klaus drag Kol's body behind him on the steps to the cellar. "Hey! Easy with him! Couldn't you at least have waited to dagger him until after the party? Did you really have to make such a spectacle out of him plotting against you?"

"Don't even start!" Klaus shot at her as he unceremoniously hoisted Kol off the floor and put him in the coffin. "You knew!" He spat at her, angrily pointing his finger at her.

"And I made sure he wouldn't be able to!"

"Give me the diamond!"

"No!"

"Myriam!"

"No!" Myriam said again, before lowering her voice. "And would you like to know why? If witches can channel their power through it to enhance it, that means that I likely can use it too."

"But you're already a force to be reckoned with, love. You don't need it."

"I do! I may be a vampire but I'm not as indestructible as you are, I can still be killed. Even now, you could kill me despite me being your wife because I didn't tell you what Kol was up to. As I was handling it. He wouldn't have gone through with it anyway."

"And what of his witches?"

"While they were breaking into Dowager Fauline's home, they had cast a spell that nobody could enter for as long as they were inside. I had one of my witches do a reversal of that spell, made it a bit more powerful and now every witch that's inside can't get out," she replied easily. "In a way, thanks to your brother I found you a way to get rid of unruly witches. All you need is to open the door and throw them in."

"I'm still cross with you!"

"Of course you are, _mon LouLou_ ," she said as she turned her back on him and made sure that Kol was lying comfortably in his coffin before closing it. "Let's return to the festivities."

~o.O.o~

1919

Rebekah had decided to go and work at the local hospital during the latest Influenza outbreak, and Myriam stayed with her girls at Débauche to make sure that they wouldn't get sick and that they were protected from the latest souped-up witch to enter New Orleans.

On the surface, Papa Tunde was one scary witch. He practised ancestral magic and sacrificial magic, but it would be easy to weaken him once they'd figure out who or what he used to draw his power from when he wasn't killing werewolves, the mayor, vampires or humans. Klaus was spying on Tunde to study him, but Myriam had her demons on him.

Once they both were sure that Tunde was drawing his power from his twin boys, Klaus slaughtered them and Tunde. It was that easy. The big scary witch was no longer, and the Treme witches ran the other witches out of town.

New Orleans could breathe easy again.

Until one day Myriam didn't come home to Klaus.


	11. Chapter 11

Klaus had had dreams about one of his favourite operas for the nights that Myriam was missing. _Les Huguenots_ was grandiose and spectacular and very few operas were this way. The story was a gripping one as well, a tale of forbidden love, akin to Romeo and Juliet. Family. Long-festering hatred. Betrayal. The massacre of thousands.

He hadn't been trying to fall asleep, he was turning New Orleans upside down to try and find his wife but hadn't been able to find her. Not even her trustworthy witches were able to, and she wasn't at Débauche. But for some reason, he found himself nodding off while brooding. Or when feeding and he couldn't quite understand why. Yet.

He was supposed to go to the opera with Myriam after his new business partner had given him some tickets, but how was he supposed to go without her?

" _Did you forget about us?"_

Klaus looked around and saw no one. "Show yourself!"

" _I can't. I've been trying to instruct you to go to the opera house for two days now, and you're not listening. Miss Myriam is there."_

"You could have told me that to begin with!" Klaus fumed.

" _I'm not strong. I was instructed to tell you but not to weaken you. Be careful. Mikael took her."_

"Mikael!" Klaus immediately took off and once he arrived at the Opera House. The crowd was laughing, and Mikael was standing proudly on the stage surrounded by people Klaus cared about, stopping him briefly in his tracks when he saw an unconscious Myriam hanging from a rack, reminding him of his own predicament when his father and his mother cursed the werewolf side of him. There were smoke fumes coming off of her as the ropes burned her, there were holes in her clothes from where Mikael had stabbed her to drain her of blood.

"Oh, yes, she's a sight to behold, isn't she, boy?" Mikael taunted him. "A wise decision to have her ingest vervain so nobody can compel her. She's strong because even while torturing her she didn't want to give up your location. Now, Marcel, however…" Mikael pointed at Marcel who was hanging from a cross. "He and Rebekah summoned me here, and he was more than happy to tell me where you lived. Have you found Elijah yet?"

He jumped on the stage to try and release Myriam, but the vervain burned his hands. Mikael pulled him away from her and held the white oak stake in front of his face.

"No!" Rebekah said as she tried to pull Mikael away from him, causing Mikael to stab her and throwing Klaus across the stage, impaling him on a pole. Klaus thought that Rebekah was trying to save him, but all she wanted was to free Marcel from his bonds.

It wasn't until Elijah came and pulled the pole out of Klaus that they both quickly undid Myriam's ropes. "There's no helping Marcel," Elijah said as he pushed the unconscious Myriam into his brother's arms while Mikael was occupied with killing Marcel. "We must run." Elijah pulled Rebekah off the floor, and they ran.

Mikael was calling for them as they walked into a side street and Elijah carefully placed Rebekah on the floor as he tore a metal spike from one of the nearby windows. "He's coming. Feed our sister your blood, brother, and leave."

"Marcel," was the first thing she said as she woke.

He looked over to the Opera House as it burned.

"He's gone, sister," Elijah said calmly.

"No! No!"

"The three of you must flee the city," Elijah said bravely. "I'll hold him off, Niklaus."

"No, we fight him together," Klaus replied as he helped his sister to her feet before tending to Myriam, feeding some of his blood to her to help speed up the healing.

"We cannot fight him," Elijah took a few steps towards his siblings. "All we can do is what we've done. We deceive him. We lead him astray. Now, I can do that as well as anyone. You take them far away from here. I'll find you."

"No, Elijah! No! You can't!" Rebekah cried. "You can't, Elijah!" She looked at Klaus with tears on her face. "This is my fault. This is all my fault!"

"It's not your fault," Klaus kindly said as Myriam was still unresponsive. "We could really use your demons, love," he whispered as he pulled her up and put her over his shoulder. "It's my fault, Rebekah. I'm so sorry." The sound of the opera house collapsing drew his attention back to the building. "Marcel…" he said in barely a whisper. "I believed we had found a home here…"

"Niklaus, please," Elijah said breathlessly. "You must leave. Go." When Klaus opened his mouth to say something, Elijah raised his voice. "Leave!"

And that's what he did. Carrying Myriam over his shoulder and pushing his sister along, they went to their safe house in Arkansas to plot their next move, to heal and to think of ways to move forward. Perhaps Elijah would be back in time before they'd leave again.

~o.O.o~

"You can't be serious!"

"I nearly died, Klaus! I nearly died!" Myriam countered. "This is exactly what we've discussed so long ago, that in case Mikael would find you again, I'd run. That I'd become your gatekeeper. I'm not as durable as you, remember? I can keep myself safe and keep an eye on you, but if we're together, it's going to make things even more difficult. I can't be with you, Klaus. Not until Mikael is dead."

"I don't want you to leave, you're my wife!"

"And I don't want to leave!" she yelled at him. "But I have to! Besides, it'll be just you and Rebekah travelling, if I'm with you, it can get suspicious very fast!"

"Then promise me that you will check in every once in a while!"

"Why are we still shouting?!"

"Promise me!"

"I promise!"

~o.O.o~

2009

For the past 80 years, Myriam had been the buffer between Klaus and anyone who had been looking for him. She had killed most of the people as they were enemies. She had also done some digging into that curse of his. What was needed and why. Why there were doppelgangers, how often did they show up and when was the next popping up? Who was Katerina Petrova? Could she find information on her? A baby picture to aid Myriam in her search for the next doppelganger?

Myriam loved doing research, and because this concerned her husband, she went way down the rabbit hole to get what she needed. And now, she had all of her ducks in a row. Soon, her husband was going to join her again, and his curse would be broken. One less problem for the Mikaelson family.

Mikael had been desiccated and locked away in a tomb in North Carolina in 1995, making the world a much safer space for the time being, and she had briefly considered to rejoin Klaus at that time. However, as by divine happenstance, the next Petrova doppelganger had been born in Mystic Falls in 1992, and Elena Gilbert looked like a carbon copy of Katerina Petrova. An exact copy. As a child, but even more so when she grew into a teenager.

Myriam decided to move back to Mystic Falls, compel the city council to give her a rental home and find a job to keep an eye on the teenager. Teenagers could be so impulsive and didn't see danger when it was staring them right in the face. She could have gone to the Mansion she had built two hundred years prior, but truth be told, time hadn't been kind to it, and it needed to be renovated first. But there was no way in hell that she was going to stay in that fleabag motel when her home was being renovated. And humans were slow. She knew this was going to take some time.

She lived as human as possible. After leaving Klaus, she had briefly lived without a daylight ring and only moved around in the dark. The ring Klaus had given her was still, to this day, very expensive looking and vampires knew about Klaus having a wife. It was a hazard. It was a beautiful ring, there was no doubt about it, but a hazard. She had to wait for some of her belongings to arrive from Florence, which included some of her dark objects and one of her self-made daylight rings.

But even with her new ring and her wedding ring safely tucked away, she pretended to be human. Her demons made her appear even more human-like they'd done before, and she was happily living under the radar. She had to get to know the town of Mystic Falls and all of the key players all over again. Luckily, nothing had changed much, she had to deal with the same families, just generations apart, and they weren't as trustworthy as their ancestors. No, this city council was smart.

They had Zach Salvatore as their vervain supplier, and Myriam tried to stay away from him because Zak Salvatore was his ancestor. A great uncle. Her Zak. The man that had been so kind as to take her in. The man who didn't like her building the Mikaelson mansion because it was too much.

The council knew about vampires, that was a given. Would they know about werewolves? Would the Lockwoods know about werewolves? Perhaps it was one big family secret! Oh, Myriam loved unearthing secrets, but she had already established that none of the Lockwoods had triggered their curse yet. Otherwise, they'd stink terribly.

"You've been trying to avoid me for months," Zach sounded as he came from the back of the Mystic Grill with a grin on his face. "They let me in, seeing as you're keeping me coming in from the front while you're working."

"Don't be ridiculous," Myriam huffed, as she followed him to the storage room for some privacy. "Vicky, I'm going to take five!" She called out to the teenager who worked with her. "This is a big town, why would I avoid you?" Myriam then asked Zach.

"Because I know who you are, perhaps?" He smiled at her. "You have nothing to worry about, your secret is safe with me."

"What secret?"

Zach sighed as he produced a diary from his bag and opened it to a page where she could see Zak's handwriting and his drawing of her. "You're her."

"No, that's not me, sugar," she shook her head. "Have you had too much to drink?"

"I know about your kind, Myriam. My uncles are like you, although I believe you're far more kind than they are. As I said, your secret is safe with me, but I do suggest you're careful with your feeding habits. Your last… snack was a wealthy businessman."

"I tore him apart and tossed him in the river. He might have been a wealthy businessman, but I have it on good authority that he was into some shady shit and was about to bankrupt one of the store owners."

"They found him this morning," he replied with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "While feeding on the bad guys is commendable, feed elsewhere. We do need a decent dose of bad guys in town so that the sheriff has something to do. Come join me for a drink after work sometime, okay? I'd love to hear stories about my great-great-great-uncle."

"Sorry sugar, but I'm not a history book," she said as she moved past him and pulled her phone out of her pocket. _Dear Mr Jenkins. I seem to have gotten myself into a pickle regarding my food. Is there any way you can assist me?_

 _Are you in Mystic Falls, again?!_

 _Relax, mon Loulou. Trust me. Would you be so kind as to send bags of food to my home on a regular basis?_

 _I'll have something arranged. One of my underlings will arrive today with a cooler._

 _I'm working, he can't!_

 _Working?_

 _I have to earn rent somehow ;-) Your underling can come by at 3 am tonight. No sooner._

 _Those blasted emoticons!_

 _Thank you, Mr Jenkins, I'm going back to my shift now!_

Zach followed Myriam out with a smirk. "So you'll be coming by the Boarding House for that drink, right?"

Myriam sighed as she turned around to face him. "Fine… I suppose I owe you one."

"Tomorrow?"

"Sure," she sighed again. "Now shoo, I'm working here."

The next day Myriam dutifully found her way to the Salvatore Boarding House. She could have gotten a room there instead of going through the painful process of acquiring a rental home, but she needed to stay out of Salvatore territory. And now she was right in it.

She had to admit, it was a beautiful home with a large driveway and a fantastic entrance. "Tadaa," Zach greeted her with a smile. "Come on in, let me give you the grand tour!"

"Who built this place?" she asked in awe as they walked through the corridor. She had already sent her demons over to scope the place and find out about Zach's true intentions, but they had come back with nothing. There wasn't an evil bone in Zach's body.

"Zak Salvatore," he said with a smirk on his face. "Our line has a habit of calling their firstborns after ourselves. Uh, the son of Stefan and Damon's half-brother. I suppose Giuseppe wanted to name a son after his brother with his lover."

"Did Zak find happiness?"

Zach winced then. "You're going to want a drink when I tell you his story," he said as he led her to the parlour and poured her a large glass of bourbon. "Did you ever come back to Mystic Falls after you left?"

"No," Myriam shook her head. "Not even to check up on Stefan and Damon, but to hear that that bitch turned them made me feel sick. They didn't deserve this kind of life. It's one thing to have a choice, but to have it forced upon you…"

Zach shrugged. "It happens, I believe that Stefan is happy about it, but I haven't seen them both in a very long time. Stefan keeps his things here in his room, but that's it. When he visits, it's usually brief, and I'm usually never home when he does. I only know about his visits because he leaves some expensive bottles of bourbon behind," he then let out a breath. "But those two are nothing but trouble. They're not like you."

She took a sip of her drink and looked at him. "All vampires are monsters, Zach. Some of us are better at controlling ourselves than others."

"You're nothing like them."

"You don't know that," she pointed out. "Perhaps I'm merely being civil with you because I'm working on some evil master plan."

"Yeah right," he huffed as he pat on the journal next to him. "Zak did love you, you know."

"Tell me what happened to him."

Zach sighed deeply. "You're not going to like this. On the day that you left, Giuseppe killed Stefan and Damon, but Katherine had been feeding them her blood for weeks, so they woke up in transition. Stefan had a fight with Giuseppe and inadvertently killed him. Zak walked in on Stefan and…"

Knowing what it had felt like when she turned herself, the endless hunger, the feeling of dread and horror filled her heart. "He didn't!"

"I'm sorry."

It was only more reason to hate Katerina for what she had done to the boys. This was personal now, much more personal than it had been in the beginning. She hurt someone Myriam cared about! "I'm going to kill her!"

"Don't you mean 'him'?"

"Oh, no, because if that bitch hadn't been feeding Stefan and Damon with her blood, they wouldn't have turned in the first place. Zak's death is on her, not Stefan," she said as she downed her glass. "Fucking bitch!"

"Ah, get in line. She's trapped underneath Fell's Church with her friends ever since the council rounded them up in 1864."

"No, she's not," Myriam spat before she took a deep breath to calm herself. "But you're right. Killing her is not my objective. Yet. She's a side plot to the bigger story."

"Why are you here, back in Mystic Falls?"

She took a moment to refill her drink and looked at Zach with a coy smile. "What? Can't a girl feel a little homesick and want to visit for a while to see how things changed?"

"Sure, but this isn't your home," Zach pointed out. "Not like how it's Stefan's home."

"I still lived here. Besides, I'm not in anyone's way. I have a job."

"You're not going to stir up trouble?"

Myriam huffed. "Of course not. Unless that bitch Katerina comes back too, then she might have a problem but don't worry, the humans of Mystic Falls are safe from me. I won't harm them."

"Good. Just checking. Otherwise, I would have told you to leave. We've had a good thing going for the last couple of years. No vampires, no werewolves, no witches apart from Sheila Bennett and she's harmless."

"She's a Bennett witch, they're not harmless."

"She's kooky, but a well-respected member of the community."

"And her mother, and grandmother weren't harmless. Watch your back with that one. Bennett witches are powerful, manipulative and love power. They can easily get addicted to it, and they'd likely want more, like an addict."

"You're just biased," Zach let out a chuckle. "People change. Families change."

Myriam pursed her lips before she heard some footsteps on the roof. "Do you have a rat infestation?"

"Nah, that's likely Stefan coming back home, he loves the roof, allows him to see the entirety of Mystic Falls and what not."

"I gotta go," she said as she got to her feet.

"Why? He'd love to see you again!"

Myriam looked up to the ceiling as she could now hear him walk around on the first floor. While she was very angry with Katerina for turning Stefan and Damon and thus causing Stefan to kill her Zak, she wasn't ready to face him yet. Nor was it the time to reveal that she was still alive."Not yet," she said in a whisper before running out of the house back to her own little home, which she decided to immediately check over for security flaws. If one of her Dark Objects left a gap somewhere. There was no doubt that where there was a Stefan, a Damon followed or would soon follow and she wanted to keep unwanted guests out.

Her own home was far from being finished from renovating, and this rental home was difficult to protect as it was part of the city council's new scheme that everybody should be able to live in a home - they were desperate to keep their numbers up as it was only a small town. Small towns had it difficult, and Myriam wasn't sure if she had to donate some money to the council again.

No.

She was Myriam Jenkins, Mystic Grill waitress who earned minimum wage and she did not have the money to donate to a town. Not this time. She was here for different reasons than entertainment.

Satisfied by her security issues, she opened her fridge and got a blood bag out of it, one of a week's worth of blood, brought to her by one of Klaus' underlings the night before.

The next day it was a little hard to get to work due to a freak storm, but she managed to get to her job anyway, providing shelter for anyone who needed it, but nobody showed up. It was almost as if she saw tumbleweeds rolling through the establishment out of sheer boredom.

She helped with the clean up the next day before work and headed home after her shift while she had to assure a concerned husband that she was alright and no, not hurt at all. And that yes, she was going to come to him that weekend.

But the next day, the entire town was mourning the lives of Greyson and Miranda Gilbert, who had an accident after picking up their daughter Elena from a bonfire party after a fight with her boyfriend. Elena survived the crash, miraculously, but her, and her brother Jeremy's, parents did not.

Myriam wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. A child should not be without her parents, losing her own mother at 15 still hurt after so long. But on the other hand, the fewer family members Elena Gilbert had, the easier it would be to use her as Klaus' salvation. Maybe Myriam should get rid of Jeremy and her aunt Jenna, too.

Elena and Jeremy Gilbert spent the summer at the Forbes house while Jenna made preparations to become their legal guardian. Jenna was still a child herself, Myriam could see nothing but trouble come from it.

Myriam's demons told her that Katerina was in California playing with a Lockwood. No doubt it was Mason who was hanging around with a bunch of werewolves without knowing he was a werewolf himself. Until he triggered the curse.

People were stupid.

Somewhere in the first week of September Zach angrily walked into the Grill and pulled Myriam away from the bar. "What's wrong, sugar?"

"I told you not to feed on people!" He hissed. "You can't tell me that an animal killed the two you killed on the road last night! Torn apart or not, the council is smarter than that!"

"It wasn't me!" Myriam growled. "I've been a good girl and have been feeding on blood bags and only feed on servants when I go and join my husband for a couple of days. Maybe it's Stefan!"

"No. As far as I know, he's not fallen off the wagon and is still feeding on bunnies."

Myriam blinked then. "He doesn't feed on humans?"

"He's a ripper. The taste of human blood drives him insane, insatiable and always wanting more and more. He likes to play with his food too. He uh, told me this. But he has it under control."

"Have you asked him?"

Zach sighed and shook his head. "He's enrolling into school right now. I came to you first because I know you're not on the animal diet."

"And never will be, thank you very much!" Myriam huffed. "When I do feed, I am careful and won't kill anyone. I even heal their wounds when necessary. Unless I'm angry. Then I can tear through an entire village like it's nothing. But I'm here on a mission, and I have excellent self-control. It's not me you have to worry about. Ask the Ripper," she shot at him. "How dare you to ask me if I killed and mutilated two people," she walked away from him and returned to her duties. Asshole. She wasn't coming over for more drinks any time soon. Not even during the day when Stefan was supposedly in school. Asshole.

Humans were fickle. Vampires were fickle.

She missed her family.

~o.O.o~

Damon got back into town. Oh, he was good at hiding in the shadows, but she'd overheard some girls talking about a tall, dark and handsome stranger with the most piercing blue eyes and then another mentioning he was Stefan's brother so yeah. Those bodies from a couple of days ago and Vicki Donovan's attack were Damon's fault.

But, so far, so good. He hadn't actually seen her, and she had managed to avoid him while helping everyone to prepare for the Comet party. The same comet that passed by the day Myriam had left Mystic Falls and the same comet which energy was used to seal the vampires underneath Fell's Church.

But she never attended the celebrations. To make sure that she'd stay out of Damon and Stefan's way, no matter how curious she was, she needed to be more invisible. She couldn't stay invisible forever especially with the bodies dropping left and right, but for now, she lead her own life. Damon and Stefan weren't crucial to her mission, but Elena was. And in a way, Myriam was grateful that Stefan gave Elena a necklace filled with vervain, even if it wasn't his to give away or his to have in his possession.

She'd reveal herself during the Founders Party that she had been invited to attend, there was this whole heritage thing going on, and Myriam was curious to see how things have endured the test of time. No doubt Elena was going to take Stefan to the ball, and Damon was abusing Caroline so no doubt he was coming with her. Myriam couldn't care less about Caroline. In fact, the girl might be the only reason why Myriam would kill in Mystic Falls.

Founders Party first, killing Caroline later even if it meant taking away Damon's toy.


	12. Chapter 12

Myriam was happy that this was a party and not a formal ball, although she loved wearing elaborate dresses - it still made her feel like a princess. Instead, she chose a blue and gold evening dress and her favourite black heels.

Attending the party was important, this way Myriam could see how much the council knew about vampires and if they were aware that the recent kills were all done by vampires. If so, she'd need to take action, this council was a lot smarter than the one 145 years ago. She wasn't going to attempt any compelling, just use her ears to listen in on conversations.

Between listening in on the council and definitely running into Stefan and Damon, it was going to be a busy night.

She was one of the first ones to arrive, which gave her plenty of time to have a look at the collection that the Lockwoods had collected from the other founding families. The first thing she saw was… a drawing of herself. It was more like a painting, and she couldn't believe it was there and wasn't sure who made it. "Holy shit," she quietly exclaimed in surprise.

"Remarkable, isn't it?"

Myriam turned to see Liz Forbes standing next to her, dressed in her sheriff outfit. "Is this a joke or something?"

"Oh no, it's a drawing from 1864 alright. My ancestors took it, and other things, after the artist died after an animal attack. Only days before this woman had left Mystic Falls and her servant arrived a couple of days later to announce that she had died in an Inn fire. It was quite suspicious… it still is."

"How so?"

"Because you're obviously looking like her, which makes me think you are her."

"How? You said it yourself, it was made in 1864. It's not humanly and scientifically possible to live that long, I'm 26 years old," Myriam laughed, shaking her head. "Who is she, anyway?"

"You and her share the same name. Her name is Myriam Hawthorne, ever heard of her?"

She was quiet for a moment as if she was thinking and then shook her head. "No, sorry. I'm the first girl born in a very long time in our line. There's no Hawthorne in my family tree. Are you sure she was called Hawthorne?"

"Oh yeah, she's buried here at the cemetery, big red headstone and all," Liz then handed Myriam a drink. "Sorry for the questions, it's just…"

"Strange," Myriam agreed as she took a sip of her drink and tasting the vervain in it. Stupid Zach caving to the city council or at least Liz Forbes! But since she'd been ingesting vervain for a very long time, Myriam didn't react to it. "Is this drawing the reason I was invited?"

"Truthfully? Yes."

She let out a small chuckle as she took another sip of her drink. "I think it's amazing, though. But that truly isn't me. Perhaps it's a doppelganger or something? Ever heard of those?"

"Everybody has a twin, anywhere, anytime? I didn't think you believed in that kind of stuff."

"Just because I'm a bartender and waitress at the Grill, doesn't mean that I'm not educated. It's just that there's no real job in esoteric, floaty stuff, so it's more of a hobby of mine… expensive hobby. Student loans are the bane of my existence," she shook her head laughing. "I should have made better decisions like my parents had wanted me to, but ah well."

"You're a witch?"

Myriam then blinked, a confused look on her face. "Witches don't exist, only in fairytales. I know my herbs and stuff that can help people, but usually only when they believe it works. I'm a mixologist for herbs. I like to carry stones with me because I believe they work on me. It's a belief. Not magic because magic isn't real." Oh, she had become so good at pretending now, it was almost a second nature.

The sheriff barked out a laugh then. "Oh sweetheart, nobody ever told you the legends of Mystic Falls when you moved here?"

"Oh, sure. But vampires? Werewolves? Witches? Really? What drugs were you guys on back then because I'd like some! But legends are just that, not real."

"Maybe, maybe not," Liz shrugged as she looked back at the painting. "Would you ever use Vervain in your tonics?"

"Vervain? No, not really, there's no evidence that it gives you high-quality effectiveness. Some people use it for detoxing the body from stuff or alleviate depression symptoms. I don't tend to use it because other herbs do the job better," she replied with a shrug. "But if you want me to make you some tea or an ointment with vervain, I'd have to find a place where it grows because despite the town being perfect to grow it, it's nowhere to be found."

"No, no, there's no need," the sheriff replied as she turned to smile at Myriam. "I have my source for it myself. But thank you for enlightening me. Perhaps you could share your wisdom about herbs with the rest of the council after the party is over?"

"Can it be tomorrow?"

"Sure," Elizabeth smiled and shook Myriam's hand. "Congratulations, Myriam, you've proven to me that you're not a vampire," she said lightly before walking away to mingle with the newcomers.

"And I still think that's a ridiculous thing to say!" Myriam called after her before she looked at the painting for the last time and sighed. Zak had been so stupid to leave this out, but then again, he hadn't known she was a vampire. She should have been more careful and made sure that she hadn't left anything behind.

Speaking of leaving things behind, one of her lockets was on display too. Graciously donated by the Salvatore family. Yeah right, it was likely that it was stolen. She could sense that there was still a demon attached to it. "Oh, you poor thing," she muttered as she started to reach out to it to release it.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Merde. Myriam turned around to face Damon, who looked at her. "I could say the same about you."

"I like your dress," he smiled at her. "I knew you weren't dead dead after your elaborate headstone was placed. Scarlet red stone, beautiful letters and that quote underneath it, seriously? Can it be even more obvious?"

"It had to be obvious to you," she replied as she looked at him. "You look good, Damon. You haven't aged a day."

"Ha!"

"Although I would have never wished this for you."

"Yeah well, neither had I, but I get to torment Stefan eternally now, so that's a plus."

"Or you could just stay away from him and live your own life," she replied after she released the demon quietly. "And stop allowing history to repeat. Stay away from Elena and stop messing with Caroline. Kill her already."

"Myriam!" Damon laughed as he put an arm around her and lead her to the dance floor to slow dance with her. "This isn't your town, it has never been. There is no way that I'm going to allow you to dictate what I can or cannot do with my life."

"Elena will bring you nothing but misery, Damon, you know this. She'll hurt you as Katerina has." She needed to leave. After the sheriff's interrogation, she felt a bit exposed, vulnerable and Damon was making things only worse.

"Yeah well, you're likely back in town working an angle, but so am I. Would you like to exchange angles and then maybe work together?"

"I work alone," Myriam let go of Damon and stepped away from the dancefloor. "Besides, you likely want to free Katerina from the tomb, but I can tell you with certainty that she's not there. Go have fun with your date."

Damon grabbed her by the arm and pulled him back towards him. "Tell me where she is!"

"Damon, let go of me!" Myriam cried out in pain as she tried to break free. She could have tried harder, but human and all. "I am not your date!" She then slapped his face so he had no choice but to let her go after the display and she stormed outside to cool off. While she was great at pretending to be human and fooling everyone, the emotions were still getting in her way, but she would never turn them off.

When Damon followed her out, she fought the urge to break his neck. "Tell me where she is!"

"No," Myriam replied sternly. "That bitch will bring nothing but trouble for you, Elena has the same effect on you and Stefan, so if I can control just a little bit on when or where you're going to see her, then so be it."

"You're not being fair!"

"I'm not? Well, tough! Leave Mystic Falls, Damon, if you know what's good for yourself. I don't give a flying fuck about your brother because I'm really angry with him too. But mostly with Katerina for being who she is for centuries. And for turning you both."

"It's fine!"

"No, it's not! You deserve a better life than this. I always imagined you'd settle down and have beautiful babies," she snarled. "And don't tell me that's a load of crap because I have my ways of knowing. You didn't want this, still, don't, and that's why you're in Stefan's hair."

"So what, you're going to kill Katherine?"

"I have my plans for her, but you need to stay clear of her and Elena. Only more hurt will come from it," she sighed. "Please."

"Nope," he shook his head before walking off. "Since you're not going to tell me where she is, I'm still going on with my plan."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Myriam stuck around until the end of the party and mingled with the rest of them, and at the end of the night, Liz Forbes asked Myriam to reconsider and to join her and the mayor and some others for a little chat. Shrugging, Myriam decided to stick around.

"What is she doing here?"

"Relax, Richard," the sheriff replied. "She's here at my invitation, it's likely that we can use her knowledge about herbs, where to put it in and how to cultivate it. Zach Salvatore's underground vervain garden could need some expanding," she added before looking at Carol. "Did you get the Gilbert Watch?"

Oh, was she going to have to fool that old thing again?!

"No," Mrs Lockwood replied with a sigh. "She said it's still packed up with her parents' belongings, and she can't find it."

"I can get it."

Myriam didn't like Logan Fell. She hadn't liked his ancestors much either, but they had been easy to manipulate. Not this scumbag who was the town's celebrity.

"Good, we're going to need it," Sheriff Forbes nodded.

"Are you sure?" Carol Lockwood asked carefully.

"Five bodies drained of blood, I'm sure. They're back."

"Sorry for interrupting, but what am I doing here and who's back?" Myriam piped up.

"As I said, you may need to grow some vervain plants, help Zach Salvatore out and-"

"No, we don't know if she's a vampire or not!" Logan interrupted. "She's new to Mystic Falls!"

"Do you take me for a fool, Logan?" Liz shot at him. "I had her drink wine spiked with Zach's vervain, and she didn't flinch. Myriam also walks in daylight, and she doesn't even believe in vampires, witches, and werewolves. She's human. And the Gilbert Watch will prove it. No vampire is that crafty."

"Yeah, no. You're all nuts," Myriam let out a snort. "If you'd like I can whip up something that stops you from being afflicted by whatever is ailing you, but I don't want to have anything to do with your crazy."

"You look like the drawing we had in the parlor, aren't you the least bit curious to find out if she's your relative or not?"

"She's not, I told you, I'm the first woman in a very long time. And I came to Mystic Falls for some peace, a fresh start. I don't want to be dragged into your shenanigans or smoke what you're smoking, thank you," Myriam said as she got to her feet. "But don't worry, it's bartender/client privilege, and I'll not tell a soul that the town's council has lost their marbles. Have a good night," she said before she excused herself and left the house.

They knew. It was a good thing that Zach had warned her about the smarter council and if Damon and Stefan were going to get themselves in trouble, then so be it. Damon, she might save, but Stefan? Nah. Besides, it wasn't her mission. She needed to keep Elena safe. For her husband.

The next few days she kept her head down and worked her shift at the Mystic Grill, now that Vicki was incapacitated - in more ways than one, Myriam had heard the news about the deaths of the stoners and no doubt Vicki Donovan had been involved somehow - Myriam was pulling double shifts. And, for a few days, it was quite nice not to see Damon around. But, according to one of the spirits she had under her command, Damon was locked up in the Salvatore boarding home, and Myriam couldn't see that end well.

Three days later, Zach was dead. Damon had killed him.

Another day later, Myriam killed Caroline, but instead of drinking her blood or anything, she compelled Caroline to kill herself dramatically - falling from the bell tower would make a bold statement.

Myriam believed she had spotted Anna the vampire at some point, and Logan Fell showed up to be a vampire. Knowing that Damon only turned people for his own enjoyment and Stefan was on the bunny diet, Myriam deducted that Anna was the culprit.

When Stefan's friend Lexi came to town, Myriam decided to go home for awhile. Elena was going to be safe now that Caroline was dead, Vicki was taken care of, and the city council believed that Myriam was human. So she went home for a 'family emergency,' and she wasn't sure when she was going to come back.

She found Klaus in upstate New York in some vampire dive bar with a cute, tiny brunette all over him, but him drinking his glass of blood while ignoring her. "Alright tiny ninja, get your hands off of my husband, he's mine," Myriam growled before she put her arm around him and crawled into his lap. "Hello," she smiled at him.

"Did you have to be rude to Sameen?"

"That's what she was called?" Myriam replied as she looked at the retreating groupie. She did have a wonderful body and no doubt she was physically strong. Sameen looked like she had fallen from grace from something. "I like her, can I turn her?"

"You'd have to turn her girlfriend Sam too."

"Oh, the possibilities," she grinned before kissing Klaus passionately. "Can I?" Myriam asked while kissing him.

"We're supposed to keep a low profile, love," he broke off the kiss with a smile on his face as he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Leave the pets alone. How are you faring in Mystic Falls?"

She sighed as she signalled to the bartender that she wanted something strong. "Did I tell you about the big ass drawing that they had of me at the party?"

"I'd love to get my hands on that," he smiled at her. "Is that why you're here? Did they find out who you are?"

"No," she smiled at him, running a hand through his hair as she picked up her glass of whiskey from the bar. "Zach Salvatore knew, he had my back. The sheriff was doing everything in her power to see if I was a vampire or not, but I managed to convince her by walking in the daylight and ingesting alcohol stuffed with vervain. In fact, they wanted my help due to my herbal knowledge and whatnot… which was my own fault. But yeah…" She sighed as she downed her drink. "My supposed friend killed my friend. Zach's dead. I killed one of the nasty teenagers by having her step off a tall building, and when I was sure everything was somewhat under control, I left. I just need a breather. Teenagers and teenage vampires suck."

"We've all been teenagers."

"Yes, but we're not stuck in that time. And while Kol and Rebekah are, they are more mature than those… fragile teenagers in Mystic Falls. And that broody asshole… he has hero hair, it's ridiculous. Who is he trying to emulate? Edward Cullen?"

"Who?"

Myriam sighed. "A fictitious vampire. He sparkles when he gets into sunlight, likely because burning to death is a bit too morbid for teenagers to read. I swear, I can see badly written inspired by Twilight books popping up in the future with people wanting to do better or whatnot."

"Who writes that drivel?"

Myriam shrugged as she kept toying with his hair. "I wanted to get out of Mystic Falls for a while, but I promise you, you'll like the playground when everything is in place."

"And what of the moonstone?"

"You really want that specific one? There are others, more powerful ones, you know. I have a few in my possession."

"Yes, that specific one!" Klaus scowled. "Everything needs to be perfect, and that moonstone is the perfect one! Besides, it's still my property! Katerina stole it from me!"

"Alright, alright," she shushed him with a kiss. "I'll make sure you'll get that particular moonstone, I promise, my love."

He sighed as he toyed with her hair, visibly relaxing. "What have I ever done to deserve you, love?"

"Your brother brought in a stray, and you allowed her to stay and to become a part of the family, of course, you deserve me," she smiled at him. "I'm yours. Forever. Now, take me home, you and I have a lot of catching up to do."

"Aren't you hungry?"

She licked her lips as she looked at him through her lashes. "I'm in the mood for my favourite banana."

They spent their days together in bed, eating the best food they could get and soaked up the culture in New York at night, going to some operas and plays. Myriam loved Raúl Esparza in Speed-the-Plow, a satirical dissection of the American movie business. Not all plays were dull, and this had indeed been a fun one. Still, nothing could top 2006, where she and Klaus went to see Spring Awakening and Les Miserables.

While they never snacked on the talented actors and singers, they did snack on some of the theatregoers although Myriam rather snacked on some of the transients and criminals that crawled around in New York.

~o.O.o~

She went back to Mystic Falls in the second week of December - reluctantly, but she had appearances to keep up, and it wasn't long before she was caught up with everything that was going on. Nothing had changed. In fact, things had gotten worse.

Caroline was now a baby vamp, and she wasn't liking it at all. She blamed Myriam for her death, but it had been Damon feeding Caroline his blood so when Caroline died, she became a vampire. Myriam was going to make Caroline her bitch she just needed a little bit more time and less heat on her return from holiday.

The tomb vampires were out, and Myriam wanted to kill them all, but they'd been smart, they'd compelled a human to allow them in, but to keep others out, and as long as Miss Gibbons remained alive, there wasn't anything Myriam could do. But Pearl and her friends needed to die like they should have done in 1864 but hadn't because of Katerina. While Pearl and Anna were deemed somewhat docile, Myriam didn't like the others. And Pearl and Anna's association with Katerina made them targets anyway.

But maybe Anna didn't deserve to die. All she had wanted to was to free her mother - which she succeeded - and have a life with Jeremy. Which happened until Vicki Donovan ended up dead after the storm and Anna realised Jeremy wanted to turn into a vampire to be with Vicki. Not with Anna.

Myriam wasn't sure if she had to do something when Stefan was taken by the tomb vampires or not. It was Stefan, after all, Damon's brother. But it seemed like Damon and Elena had it all under control, asking the new History teacher Alaric Saltzman for help. Oh yes, Myriam was shocked to find out that the good teacher was also a vampire hunter. And a semi-decent one at that. And that his wife was now a vampire - turned by Damon - and that his wife was Elena's birth mother.

What a mess, but oh so entertaining!

She kept an eye on the rescue efforts, of course, and was tempted to help Stefan and Elena when Damon and Alaric were doing whatever they were doing, and Stefan had been taken down. Elena had fed Stefan her blood to save the both of them, which was the start of another good drama series, wasn't it?

Goody-two-shoes Stefan who hadn't had human blood in a very long time had now human blood in his system. Good thing Myriam had free access to the boarding home to keep an eye on him, much to Damon's dismay. Myriam had set up a room for herself in one of the spare rooms so she could keep an eye on Stefan because she had her ways of keeping an eye on him while not doing so physically.

And she wasn't happy with what she was hearing from her friends. Stefan was drinking human blood, a lot of it, saying that he was fine, but he clearly wasn't. She wondered if the reason why he was on animal blood was because he was an addict. A Ripper. Her demons confirmed it. Who would have thunk? Stefan Salvatore, the addict.

"You can't be around Elena like this, you know," Myriam said as she leaned against the doorpost and looked at the vampire who was trying not to drink human blood and do everything in his power to distract his mind and suppress his urges. "You could take a bite out of her, and I can't have you do that."

"I don't want to, and I'm fine," Stefan countered agitated. "I can control myself, I'd never hurt Elena."

"You say that now, but what if… I don't know… you two get all cuddly, and you smell her blood, hear her heartbeat…"

"Myriam, why are you back? I never got to ask you," he sighed as he looked at her. "You don't seem to want to talk to me and yet here you are."

"I don't like you. You killed your uncle Zak, who was nothing but kind to me, so forgive me that talking to you isn't high on my priority list. Keeping Elena safe, is," she said harshly. "I can help you."

"I'm fine."

"Come to me when you realize you're not," she snapped as she looked at Damon who had just walked in. "Hey, what about I give up my rental home and stay here until my home is finally done renovating?"

"No thanks," Damon scowled. "We don't need you being a helicopter parent."

Myriam let out a chuckle and shook her head. "So who's going to be my date to the Founder's Day event then?"

"You've been invited, again?"

"Relax, they all think I'm a human, I drank champagne laced with vervain a couple of months ago while the sheriff was grilling me about the drawing you guys donated for the history part of that particular party. Thanks for that."

"How the hell did we know that you were still alive!" Damon countered angrily.

"No, I'm not angry about it, but they like me now. Because I know my herbs. They probably think I'm a witch or something."

"I supply them with vervain! ME!"

"And I'm telling them how to use it properly, so what?"

"You're not going to the event."

"You can't stop me from going, Damon, because it's likely that Elena's going to attend too, and I need to make sure she stays safe. You two seem to be doing a poor job at it," she countered. "Besides, your brother is not doing fine. I don't want him to slaughter the council and everyone attending that party."

She went up to her room and summoned a demon before ordering it to stick to Stefan and to try to help him fight his urges, to make the transition back to animals a bit smoother. If the demon wasn't successful, Myriam promised the demon that he'd burn eternally. In slow motion.


	13. Chapter 13

2010

After the Founder's Day event - which was highly enlightening as John Gilbert addressed the entire council while Myriam was present about the ongoing vampire problem, she headed home and relaxed in her room before her demon attached to Stefan alerted her that Damon had left Stefan alone with a glass of human blood and that he was about to drink it.

She made her way downstairs and pulled the glass out of his hands. "Don't you even think about it!" She growled as she threw it in the fireplace. "You need to tell your brother the truth about your little problem here, Stef."

"Why did you do that!"

"I'm trying to help you!"

"Then let me drink that blood! I have it under control!"

"No, you obviously don't," she said calmly. "And I know you don't like this side of you either. Let me help you, Stefan. Please. I want Mystic Falls to remain intact, and I don't want you to tear everyone to shreds."

"I have it under control, Myriam."

"Yep, and I'm the Queen of Italy. Oh wait…" she thought for a moment. "Look, Damon isn't buying your crap either, and I know about the recent blood bank thefts. You've been going through blood like you're drinking water. That ends now."

"Nope, can't," he said as he shook his head. "I'm Elena's date to the Founder's Court tomorrow."

"Damon can do it. Or Matt. Or anyone else, but not you," she said as she snapped his neck and dragged him off to the basement. "Damon! Stefan's calling in sick for the rest of the week! Time for some vampire detox before he does something stupid!"

"What!" Damon came back downstairs and saw Myriam dragging his brother down the stairs. "What are you doing?"

"He's still drinking human blood, Damon. There's a fridge filled with blood bags in the basement that he's been hiding from you. I'm doing what you should have been doing," she told him sternly. "I'm going to bleed him out, and I need you to find me some animal blood… Might take a while before he's really clean and all. I might as well desiccate him to make sure."

"But why?"

She sighed as she dropped Stefan to the floor. "You've seen him change ever since Elena fed him her blood, haven't you? He's unhinged. He doesn't have the control you have, and that's not because he's been on animal blood for so long. Stefan's a Ripper. You must have heard of Rippers, haven't you? No? Well, let me tell you that I've seen a few in my life. Rippers enjoy to abuse, manipulate and to mutilate their victims. Once they have a taste of human blood, they can't stop drinking. You can stop. You know the limits of a human body but Stefan will keep going because all he hears is his victim's heart and he keeps on going until that stops beating," she explained to him. "They're not to be reasoned with, they're closer to being a predator than we regular vampires are. Rippers blackout and just… let loose. All sense of morality out of the window."

"Well I don't have a sense of morality," Damon huffed.

"You pretend not to have a sense of morality, but even you care about people, and you know when you're taking things too far. If we allow Stefan to be consumed by his bloodlust, we'll have a harder time of bringing him back, and we might have to kill him. Do you want that?"

"Well…"

"He's your fucking brother, of course not!" She angrily shot at him. "I know you two don't often see eye to eye, but he's your brother, and when you live as long as we've been living, of course, you hate each other for the most part, but he's still family and family is important. We're not going to kill him. Not when this is easily fixed."

"Fine," Damon sighed. "I'll call the school and tell him he has the flu or something."

"Good, now, are you going to help me to get him downstairs or what?"

Damon let out a long sigh. "I suppose… can't have the town go looking for him and draw attention to us, can we?"

Myriam took extreme pleasure in bleeding Stefan out and pumping him full of vervain. Hearing his cries of agony turn into moans over the days, sounded like music to her ears. He refused to drink animal blood or anything else, so she decided to torture him instead - all the while telling Damon and reassuring Elena, that this was the only way to cure him.

"Come on, Stefan," Myriam sighed as she kneeled down in front of him. "You barely have anything left in your system and believe me, desiccation is a bitch. You won't survive."

"I don't want to survive."

"What?"

"And you need to stop Elena from visiting me. No more. After all that I've done, it has to end. I just want it over."

"Don't be so dramatic," she huffed as she pulled a large bore syringe out of her pocket filled with animal blood and injected him with it, causing the weakened Stefan to cry out in pain. "I'll force feed you instead. You can thank me later."

Stefan let out a whine. "You don't understand. Whenever I'm like this… I lose control. I actually want to kill people just for sports, and I enjoy it. And that's wrong. I don't deserve to live. Lexi brought me back a few times but… I keep falling off the wagon!"

Myriam ruffled his hair as she got to her feet. "And yet, you keep on doing your best. Fighting our bloodlust is a constant struggle every single day, Stefan. I know someone who has difficulties controlling himself, but he just about manages… if his brother doesn't get in his way, but he manages, and he's a bigger monster than you are. I know that your bloodlust is different. You can't actually help yourself, so snacking on animals instead is admirable. More vampires like you should do that to keep the world a safer place. And yeah, you're not my favourite person in the world, and perhaps you do need to die, but I'd rather see you alive and struggle with your demons than to give you an easy way out." She then walked towards the door. "I'll be back in a few hours with a bottle of blood. If you're not drinking on your own by then, I will continue to inject it, and the syringes will become bigger and blunter. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, get over it."

Stefan was back to his usual self before Founder's Day, and Myriam moved out of the boarding school into her old, now remodelled and renovated home. While she had proven to Liz Forbes that she was, in fact, human, she checked in on Myriam anyway.

"What a lovely home you have here, quite an upgrade from your rental home, isn't it?" She said as she stood on the stoop and looked up. "You know, this house was built by-"

"My ancestor, Myriam Hawthorne," Myriam replied kindly and invited the sheriff in when she saw the dumbfounded look on her face. "Forgive me for my deception, sheriff. When you come from money and want to live a normal life for once, you'd like to keep a low profile."

"So you are related?"

Myriam nodded. "I was named after her, of course. Her maiden name was Jenkins, she's like my great great great aunt?" She said a bit confused, blinking for emphasis as she lead the sheriff into the study. "Our family always had money, like… an excessive amount of it and I wanted to get away from it for a bit, renovating this home gave me the perfect excuse to rent." She sighed then. "I'm not directly related to her, so I'm not a part of the founding family, or at least her. She's like royalty. She was an amazing woman, and I've known for a very long time that we look alike, so it's a bit…"

"Awkward?"

"Yeah," Myriam smiled at her. "And strange. I'm nothing like her, but if you wish for me to donate to the town then-"

"Oh, no, don't you worry about that!" Liz laughed, waving away the idea. "I was just curious, that's all, I didn't mean to pry."

"You're more than welcome to, but I do hope you understand why I deceived you when it came to my ancestor. Once someone learns you have money…"

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," the sheriff nodded. "For all everyone else knows is that someone won the lottery and bought you a proper house in our lovely little town. Speaking of our little town, what are you doing for Founder's Day? There's a parade and everything!"

"Oh, yeah," Myriam smiled. "I heard about that!"

"Are you coming?"

"Nah, I still have a lot to do inside the house, and I think I'm going to set up a herb garden in the backyard. Grow you some more vervain, grow some aconite and other good stuff," Myriam shrugged. "Make the most from my day off from the Grill." In fact, Myriam had an excellent reason to stay away from the town's centre for Founder's Day. Some of the tomb vampires were planning on something, and the council had plans now that they had yet another Gilbert device in their hands. Maybe she should warn Stefan and Damon… Nah. What mattered was that Elena was safe.

Besides, one of her demons that she had attached to a certain someone had returned to Mystic Falls. It was best if Myriam stayed out of sight to have an element of surprise.

"I thought you didn't believe in vampires?"

"I don't, but you do," Myriam smiled at her. "And if you, and the council, feel safe with a boatload of vervain, I'll happily supply you guys with it. But, just out of curiosity… Since you believe in vampires and all… what would you do if your own daughter turned out to be one?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Caroline isn't a vampire."

She wasn't satisfied with that answer. "Come on, believe for a second that I believe in vampires and that they're real. What if Caroline is a vampire? What would you do?"

"She's my daughter."

"Of course, but you and the council are hell bent on killing vampires, so…"

"She's my daughter. Should, or if, she's a vampire then I'll make sure she won't be able to harm anyone," Liz replied, slightly agitated. "What kind of a question was that anyway?"

Myriam shrugged. "I tend the bar at the Grill, I like playing these kinds of games sometimes. And to me, your answer showed that you need to work on your standards, your own morality. Like… you would arrest anyone if they'd shoplift, but your daughter? Nah. You'll just tell her to bring the items back and ground her for the rest of her life."

"Ah, just you wait until you have children of your own."

"Ha! Never!"

~o.O.o~

Mason Lockwood had returned to Mystic Falls, and he was a werewolf. Plain and simple. Myriam could sense it, smell it even, kinda like wet dog, especially after he had gone for a run early in the morning. Maybe it was a good thing Mason was in Mystic Falls, his cousin Tyler had been spiralling out of control and causing many accidents. Now that his father was dead, thanks to the Gilbert device, he'd need someone to tell him about his heritage.

It was no secret to Myriam that the Lockwoods were werewolves, and she knew that Damon and Stefan didn't even know about the existence of werewolves. She wasn't going to enlighten them, either. It was something they'd had to discover for themselves.

Anna and the tomb vampires were dead. Yay Mystic Falls Council! Good job! Damon nearly died in the process. And Myriam had spotted Katerina a few times, pretending to be Elena or spying on the rest of the village. So far, she managed to stay out of her way, observing the bitch in return.

Myriam had finally found a use for Caroline. Under the threat of 'I killed you before, and I won't hesitate to do that again' Caroline was now Myriam's spy amongst Damon, Stefan, and Elena. And Bonnie. Caroline definitely had to keep an eye on the Bennett witch, but also keep Elena safe. With Katerina in town, Elena's safety was up in the air - even though Elena was likely not Katerina's reason to be in town.

No, Myriam figured it would be because she wanted Stefan and Damon back. Stefan more than Damon. And, likely the moonstone that Myriam had been after but had managed to snag it from the Lockwood vault during the last Founders party. Klaus was happy, relieved that Myriam had procured that exact stone and trusted her to keep it safe.

Should Katerina find out that Myriam was in town and in possession of the moonstone - the Lockwood family heirloom, then Myriam was going to make sure the bitch wouldn't get it. She wanted to save Katerina alive and well for her husband to torture, but Myriam was sure that he would love her head on a spike as a gift when keeping her alive wasn't possible. Because Myriam could be tempted.

But, for now, she was too busy with the Salvatore brothers to care about anything but them and Elena. Which was good, it meant that Myriam still had some freedom left before she could start making Katerina's life a living hell again.

Myriam needed to keep Mason Lockwood alive, too. Klaus needed a werewolf for his ritual and- It suddenly dawned on her that this was the actual reason why Katerina was in town. She wanted the moonstone and a werewolf to appease Klaus and have him stop hunting her down, wasn't it?

Well, that wasn't going to happen.

Katerina was a toy, not someone who was allowed to be free from the wrath of Klaus Mikaelson.

"Hi Mason," Myriam smiled sweetly at him as she looped her arm through his. "How's your day going?"

"Just fine, Myriam, what can I do for you?"

She turned him around to start walking towards her home. Her demons had told her that the Scoobies were going to try to hurt him - or worse - and she wasn't going to let that happen. Despite Bonnie's mother having taken care of Mikael in the 1990's, Myriam couldn't allow the Bennett witch to mess up her plans. And so, Mason had to be taken out of the equation. "I have an issue at my home that I could use your help with if you don't mind?"

"Of course not, always happy to help, but I'm busy with-"

"I know, the ball's preparations. I'm sure they can miss you for a bit," she pleasantly smiled at him. "I really need to get this heavy thing lifted and you…" she sighed happily as she put her hand on his biceps and squeezed it a little. "You sure look like you are the right person to help me out."

Mason barked out a laugh. "Sure thing, Myriam."

She lead him back to her house, which was just outside of town and headed straight into their basement. Like their home in New Orleans, Myriam had made sure that they had a sturdy, soundproof, basement in case they'd have guests to entertain. Her demons would do the rest. She had made sure that she had a few strong ones to subdue the werewolf and her dark objects would make sure he couldn't leave either.

Klaus was going to kill her if he'd turn and bit her.

She watched as the demons pushed Mason against the wall and she started to search his body for his phone and other things. "So, here's the thing," she said as she fumbled with Mason's phone. "I know what you are and I know that you and Katherine are an item."

"How!"

"I have my sources," she knowingly smiled as she looked at him. "In any case, your relationship with Katherine is false. You may love her, but she only wants to use you. To gift you to someone so he can break his curse. I don't want that to happen, so I'm keeping you safe here."

"They'll go looking for me."

"They can try, but trust me, I don't want you to be found, so even if they'd search this basement, they wouldn't be able to see you or hear you," Myriam said as she closed the cell he was in. "Bonnie, Damon, and Stefan want to kill you because they believe you're a threat. And you are. To them."

"How?"

"Again, I have my sources," she knowingly smiled as she typed away furiously on Mason's phone. "Right now I'm sending an email to your sister-in-law and your nephew. You're leaving town, heading back to California."

"Tyler."

"Yeah, once he kills someone, I'll have my ways of telling him your family's history and lineage. Don't worry, he's a good boy. I've been keeping an eye on him for a while now." Once she had finished sending the email, she turned off the GPS and crushed it with her bare hands. "You're Katherine's toy. That makes you my toy. So, what do you want to have for dinner?"

"You'll pay for this."

"Nah. Be a good boy and I'll keep you safe," Myriam smiled at him before leaving him in the company of her demons and her toys. Oh, she was definitely going to have some fun with sharp objects on the wolf later.

"Hey!" Mason called out, causing Myriam to turn around and look at him. "You don't have to do this."

"I'm willing to help you, but that doesn't mean I have to like you. You're not here because I want to be friends with you, but because of what you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that the only concern right now for you is that your girlfriend and her exes want you dead, both for different reasons. I kind of like throwing wrenches into your girlfriend's plans. Keeping you alive will upset her, and my partner and I love it when she's upset. You're safe here. I'll feed you, I'll give you water, but that's as far as things go."

Myriam then went upstairs, closing the big door separating the basement from the house and drowned out Mason's cries before pouring herself a stiff drink. She was curious what Katerina was going to do next now that Myriam had taken away one of her toys.

She opened her laptop and browsed through the emails she'd received from Isabella, her friend in New Orleans who was still running Myriam's club for her. Isabella had kept her up to speed on everything over the years. Either by post nor now, by email. They were still going strong, and Myriam gave the go-ahead to expand the building as much as the city would allow them to.

If they wouldn't allow them to, then Myriam had to go and look for different options. Perhaps finally branching out to the other coast so that they could help more people.

Isabella also kept Myriam apprised of the comings and goings of Marcel Gerard. After the Mikaelsons had fled New Orleans because of Mikael and believed Marcel to be dead, Marcel miraculously survived and had started to take up the mantle of 'King of New Orleans.' Was Myriam informing her husband about this? No. Because their priority was to break his curse and then maybe New Orleans.

But Myriam wasn't quite liking hearing about Marcel treating the witches poorly and all the whispers about a new powerful Claire witch having been born a few years after the doppelganger was born unnerved her. Claire witches needed to be protected and to be raised properly, and she just knew that eventually, Marcel would get his dirty hands on her. Myriam wasn't a fan of New Orleans witches, especially Claire witches, because they were power hungry and backstabbing bitches.

She had hooked up Klaus with a witch from a lesser-known New Orleans witch family to help with the plans they had for his safety. Maddox was a male witch who was observant and strong, powerful. Isabella had hired him several times to check the wardings and spells on Débauche, and she trusted him. Klaus himself had found a witch to help him, but according to Isabella, Greta Martin had a crush on him, and she didn't like that. At all. So Maddox was there to keep an eye on Greta as well.

With having taken Mason, Myriam now had to keep an eye on Tyler Lockwood, because there was no doubt that Katerina would want another werewolf and would do anything to have Tyler trigger his curse. Ugh. What a mess. Maybe she should kill Mayor Lockwood's wife and kidnap Tyler just in case. But that would raise far too many red flags in Mystic Falls.

The good thing was, nobody knew that she was in possession of the Moonstone already. And everyone believed that everyone else had it. It was possible that this situation could escalate, but at least it were vampires that were involved, and Elena being the only human. But knowing Katerina, she might actually attack Elena's family to get the Moonstone back. Which was fine. The less family Elena had left, the easier it would be to have her offer herself to the sacrifice willingly.

The good thing was that Katerina was now kept safely in the tomb underneath the church, courtesy of Damon and Bonnie. Katerina was out of harm's way, lonely, and would painfully desiccate. Myriam knew exactly where she was, and that felt great.

She was woken up by the demon she had put with Elena, to keep an eye on the doppelganger to make sure she was being kept safe by the Salvatores. And apparently, they hadn't made sure of her safety. Elena had been taken, and she was currently in transit towards the south. Groaning, Myriam instructed the demon to relay what was being said and keep her apprised of the location before she got into her car and drove off.

Myriam wasn't far behind. After about an hour drive on high speed, Elena was handed over to a vampire, likely one without a daylight ring due to the tinted windows of the car, and Myriam was close. She had just missed it. She spotted the fresh dead body on the ground and kept driving.

Elena was taken to an abandoned house by the vampire, and Elena finally came to, which made it easier for Myriam's demon to communicate with her. She told him to press Elena to ask questions. Who are they? What do they want? Did they know she wasn't Katherine? And, of course, the English lady vampire knocked Elena out for not remaining quiet.

Were this Rose and Trevor? Myriam couldn't believe that they were still alive! While Myriam had never met them in person, Klaus had told her about their involvement in Katerina's betrayal. She had her demon follow the two vampires through the house as she continued to drive and didn't like hearing Rose and Trevor mention Elijah.

Fucking Elijah.

There was no doubt that Elijah wanted Elena for himself and to kill Klaus because of the little white lie that Klaus had told him back in Germany. Myriam hadn't been there, but Klaus had written to her with the story. The story was that Elijah lied to Klaus about things. Klaus had pretended that Rebekah was still out and about with someone by writing Elijah letters in her name and handwriting, then Elijah lied again. Something about Nazi werewolves, from what Myriam could remember and then Klaus telling Elijah he dropped all of their siblings in seas all over the world in their cosy little coffins.

It was a lie, of course. Kol, Rebekah, and Finn were all safe and sound. They always had been. But there was no doubt that Elijah wanted to kill Klaus, and the only way for Elijah was to do that was to allow Klaus to break the curse and then kill him during the initial transition where he'd be at his weakest.

If Myriam could, she would kill Elijah instead. But, for now, sabotaging his plans would have to do. He had to back off and stay away.

Myriam pushed her demon to wake Elena and to force her to her feet. To continue to ask questions, but Myriam didn't like the answers that she heard. Rose and Trevor were going to hand Elena over to Elijah. There was no way in hell that she'd allow that to happen.

She parked the car next to the blacked out van and gently knocked on the door.

"That can't be Elijah already, can it?" Trevor wondered as he walked to the door and opened it, revealing Myriam. "I'm sorry, love, but-"

"I'm here for the girl," Myriam said as she pushed past Trevor. "Elijah's delayed."

"But you're human!"

"Am I?" Myriam continued to walk inside the house. "Hey, Elena."

"Myriam?"

"Don't worry, you're safe now. Damon and Stefan are on their way as well, they're about two hours behind me," she said as she moved between Rose and Elena. "Did you really think Elijah wouldn't have known about Elena already? I've been in Mystic Falls for years, making sure the Doppelganger was safe, and you made me go all the way out here to come and pick her up again. Are you two completely off your rocker?"

"Can you grant us the same forgiveness as Elijah can?"

"Forgiveness for your hand in Katerina's betrayal?" Myriam huffed. "Why would I do that? So you could have a cushy life and not have to look over your shoulders anymore? Please. If it hadn't been for you two, the curse would have been broken already, and the world would have been a lot safer."

"W-wait," Elena stammered as she looked at Myriam. "You're a vampire?"

"Of course I am, Elena."

"But why didn't Stefan and Damon tell me? Or Bonnie?"

"Bonnie is an idiot who can't see a cheap spell from miles away, and Stefan and Damon know to keep my secret because I'll kill them before they spill the beans on me anyway," Myriam explained. "I'm older than Stefan and Damon, but I have a particular fondness for their family. It's a long and boring story."

"And how do you know about the Originals?"

"Who doesn't?" Myriam shrugged.

"Stefan and Damon?"

"I didn't say they were smart or the seekers of more knowledge. Their sire didn't teach them right, and I had to leave town before I could educate them properly."

"Their sire? But that's Katherine!"

"Hooray! You're definitely the sharpest tool in the toolbox!"


	14. Chapter 14

Myriam had made herself comfortable on the sofa and pat on the seat next to her for Elena to sit down. "Hey, look, nobody can know that I'm a vampire, you know that, right? You can't even tell Stefan and Damon that you know. I'm here to help you. To keep you safe."

Elena sat down next to Myriam with a nod. "But what about them?" she asked in a hushed voice as she jerked her head in the direction of Rose and Trevor.

"Oh, right," Myriam nodded as she got to her feet. "You want the target off of your backs!"

"Can you grant us that?" Rose asked hopefully. "Like Elijah?"

"I'm not sure if you should trust Elijah, to be honest. He may come across as all honourable and all, but he's the worst of the worst. There's always something else at play with him."

"But you're working for him?"

"No, I said I was here for the girl, and I am," she smiled. "And Elijah is delayed. You made out of it that I'm with him. And trust me, darling, I'd rather be dead than to be with him."

"I can't give you the girl!" Rose said panicked. "We'll never be free otherwise!"

"You won't ever be free because I believe that it's Niklaus you're truly afraid of, because he put the target on your back. The last thing I heard was that Elijah and Niklaus weren't on speaking terms anymore," Myriam shrugged as she ruffled Trevor's hair before pulling out a stake and pushed it through his back, straight into his heart. "I believe it was his transgressions that marked you?"

"No! Trevor!" Rose sobbed as she fell to her knees when Trevor's body dropped to the ground. Myriam quietly sat down next to Elena with a big smile on her face.

"So, what did Rose tell you about the curse?" she asked lightly.

"That my blood breaks the curse?" Elena replied, nervous as she inched herself away from Myriam.

She tsked her, clicking her tongue. "Don't be like that, I'm not going to hurt you," Myriam sighed. "Look, Elijah will tell you that he wants to keep you safe from the big bad Klaus. Everyone's afraid of Klaus, even Elijah. With good reason, really, because Klaus can be very dangerous when angered. He has a brilliant strategic mind that will always put him a few steps ahead of you, but truthfully? It's Elijah you need to be worried about."

"How so?"

"Because with Elijah… and in a sense with Klaus, you really have to listen to his words. What is he telling you? I know of one instance where one promised someone to be safe, gave them their word, while the other killed that someone anyway. It wasn't his word, but the other's."

"That's just fucked up."

"Is it? I think it's brilliant because that's how they have survived for so long. Wordplay. Manipulation. Telling the truth but leaving things out intentionally. Now, again, Elijah will likely tell you that he's here to protect you from Klaus. He will also guarantee your family's safety. All he wants is your cooperation. It's also likely that he will come to Mystic Falls now because he will know of your existence." Myriam said as slowly as possible so she could make things very clear for Elena. "Now, what he won't tell you is that he wants to hand you over to Klaus anyway so that Klaus can break his curse. You see, what people don't know about the Sun and Moon Curse is that's fake. Elijah and Klaus made it all up because they've been looking to break this curse ever since it was put onto Klaus after he was first turned."

"What?"

"Klaus' mother had a fling with a werewolf. They only found out when they turned and Klaus killed for the first time," Myriam shrugged. "The curse was placed on Klaus to make him a vampire only. Klaus always wanted to be stronger, more powerful, and as a vampire-werewolf, he'll be unstoppable. Anyway, when Klaus breaks the curse, he'll transition, and he'll be at his weakest. That's when Elijah will kill Klaus."

"But that's good, right?"

"Elena, you will die. Elijah will not flinch and will sacrifice you to make sure that Klaus breaks the curse, and he will leave that out. If he does tell you this information, he'll also tell you that he has some sort of potion that can bring you back to life. This is a lie, the potion doesn't do anything. Why do you think Katarina ran?"

"I don't want to die."

"I will not allow Elijah to sacrifice you, you have my word. Elijah will not do that. I'm here to protect you from him, and I will do that for as long as needed, as I've done so for the last few years."

"Are you sure?"

"Babe, with the shitstorm coming you can need all the help you can get. I'm older than Stefan and Damon, and that makes me stronger than them. I know things about the Originals that Rose even doesn't know," she then let out a long sigh. "Rose, sweetheart, stop crying over your dead boyfriend, it's very unbecoming and you're starting to get on my nerves."

"We've been together for centuries! And you killed him!"

"Ah, but if I hadn't done it, Elijah would have," Myriam shrugged. "Speaking of which, you have a visitor. Don't tell him that I'm here. He won't be able to see me, but I'm here to protect Elena, got it? If you are going to tell him, I will know, and I will kill you myself."

"Why won't he be able to see you?" Elena wondered.

"I have my secrets," Myriam smiled. "Don't worry, whatever happens, Elijah's going down." She then giggled and clapped her hands. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

It didn't take long for Rose to come back with Elijah, who was shocked to see a human Doppelganger standing in front of him. The smelling of Elena was really creepy though. Just as expected, he didn't pick up on Myriam, which made her thank the demon that was doing this for her. "Alright, come with me," Elijah said as he grabbed Elena's arm. "You're free, Rose," he said as he stepped over Trevor and then paused to look at the body. "Who else is here?"

"No one," Rose said quickly. "Elena surprised Trevor with the stake, he hadn't properly searched her for any kind of weaponry when he brought her in."

Elijah narrowed his eyes on Rose. "You're lying."

"I'm not. I swear, I'm not."

Myriam grinned when she put a demon on Elijah, causing him to shiver ever so slightly. There was no way that she'd have him disappear without a trace again. Klaus would love to have his brother back if only to hurt him himself or to make nice. Whatever he was in the mood for that day.

"Are you sure?" Elijah asked playfully before the cavalry arrived and he couldn't think about what was going on right now. After some fun play with Damon and Stefan, Elena and Rose disappeared out of sight. "Excuse me," Elijah called out as he walked to the coat rack. "To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake by thinking you can beat me."

Myriam was surprised by how playful Elijah sounded. Had he adapted this to cover up the fact that he was a maniac?

"You can't," Elijah said as he motioned with his hands and a big smile on his face. He then turned to the coat rack and started to strip it of its additional parts. "You hear that? I repeat you cannot beat me. So I want the girl, on the count of three or heads will roll," he said as he stood on the stairs. "Do we understand each other?"

Myriam sighed as she pulled the coat rack out of his hands by surprise, appearing before him. "You are such a megalomaniac," she said as she turned him around, shoved the coat rack into him and pushed him up against the wall and he desiccated on impact. Was she going to tell them that he couldn't be killed like this? Nah. "Oh, that felt good!" she said all giddily. "Come on kids, let's go home!"

Of course, when they got back to Mystic Falls Myriam had to come to the boarding house to explain herself, but she didn't. She told Stefan to bring Elena home and give it a rest. Now that Elijah was close, she needed to go back home and put up some more security features and call her husband.

"Hi honey," Myriam grinned as she sat down on her sofa with a good glass of wine in her hand and propped her feet onto the table.

 _"What are you up to, love?"_

"Me? Nothing! I've secured a werewolf, I have the moonstone, and the Doppelganger trusts me to keep her safe from Elijah."

 _"Elijah?!"_

"Yep," Myriam said as she popped her p. "Rose and Trevor, remember them? You must as you've told me about them a while ago."

 _"Of course, they betrayed me!"_

"Well, Trevor's dead now. Rose and Trevor wanted to hand the Doppelganger over to Elijah. He's planning to kill you."

 _"Of course he is. He's mad at me for telling him that our siblings are at the bottom of the ocean! But he started it!"_

"I know, Mon LouLou," she smiled. "I know, and I'm doing the best that I can to make sure you can break the curse."

 _"Good. I'll have Isobel send over a dagger and some ash through John Gilbert. Put Elijah down if you have to, love. I still have a coffin with his name on it."_

"Aw, but I want to play!"

 _"Not while we're this close."_

Myriam sighed. "I think it's best if John gives it to Damon or something. Elijah will see me coming with it from miles away."

 _"Your demons can protect you from the effects of using the dagger. Your little pet would not be so fortunate."_

"So?"

 _"I'd rather have you do it, love. Who knows what Elijah's up to?"_

"Well, he managed to get Daddy Martin and his son Luka on his side," Myriam shrugged as she studied her nails. "They've arrived in town a couple hours ago. No doubt Elijah will follow shortly."

 _"No doubt Elijah told him that he can help them get their Greta back. When will he learn that a lot of the time my allies come to me out with genuine reasons and that I'm not actually forcing them?"_

Myriam shrugged. "I really don't wish to hear about Greta, Klaus."

 _"Why, are you jealous?"_ he laughed.

"Do I have a reason to be?"

 _"No. Never. You know that I'm faithful to you, and only you. Trust that I will arrive in Mystic Falls shortly. Maddox and Greta are dotting their I's and crossing their t's to make sure I'll be safe."_

"Again!"

 _"Patience, sweetheart,"_ Klaus said teasingly. _"Keep an eye on Elijah for me. You have no idea how much I've been anticipating the breaking of the curse. We can't allow things to go wrong now."_

"Now I'm hurt," Myriam scowled. "What have I been doing for the last few decades, huh? Am I just one of your minions to you?"

 _"You are my wife, and trust me, once this is all over, you will not have to leave my side ever again."_

She scoffed. "It's been too long, I feel like I'm stuck."

 _"You were just here a couple of weeks ago!"_

"I'm bored playing the barmaid and having to play mommy to these idiots! You'd think that all vampires would have heard stories about The Originals but nooo, of course not. Not Damon and Stefan Salvatore!"

 _"Well, Stefan is compelled to forget, you know that."_

"Ugh!"

 _"Buy yourself something pretty and feel better."_

"Fuck you."

 _"Gladly!"_

"And if that witch lays one finger on you, I will rip her face off her head. You may need to find another for the ritual. I will know if she does," she growled before hanging up on him.

A couple of days passed while Myriam worked her shifts at the Grill. They had been downsizing a little because the bar was trying to stay afloat, but Myriam needed the distraction. And she needed stay visible, a member of the community. Hide in plain sight. These days, most of the scoobies stayed at the Boarding House or at Elena's place, but never at the grill.

Alaric and Damon, and later Stefan, met up with a werewolf called Jules a few times something about Tyler and them being a werewolf and they threatened the wolf on a full moon. Stupid. But, the werewolf took care of Rose, so Myriam was happy. Elijah took care of the wolves because he had given his word that none of Elena's friends were to be harmed, and Jules left, with Tyler. It was a good thing, Tyler needed someone to take care of him, teach him the ways, although Myriam still wanted to kill him. And Jules. And Mason in the cellar.

Whoops. Myriam had forgotten entirely about Mason and brought her guests some food from the grill and some bottles of water. "I never said I was a good host," she muttered before leaving him again.

She was excited when she received a text message from Klaus to meet him at Alaric's place and hurried to find her husband there. But instead, she found a Katerina stabbing herself in the leg with a pocket knife and Maddox leaning against the kitchen counter watching Katerina. "Where is he?!" She demanded.

"Oh, of course," Katerina whined as she stabbed herself again. "I should have known you were working for Klaus. You're a grade A bitch."

Myriam slapped Katerina and turned back to Maddox. "Where is he, Maddox?"

"He'll be back in a bit, he wanted to check up on his Doppelganger. He's at school. Relax."

"Relax?!"

"Myriam, he'll be back."

"Oh, sure, but what I wouldn't give to see him as a history teacher. No doubt everything becomes the same in his mind, history, and he won't even remember when the first Moon Landing was. Or Watergate," she snickered as she headed to the cabinet and got herself something to drink. "Hell, he barely remembers our anniversaries."

"That's typical of men," Maddox shrugged.

"Don't even start," she snarled before walking over to Katerina. "How's the stabbing going?" Myriam asked as she stabbed Katerina's open wound with her finger.

"I don't know who's worse, you or me," Katherine whined.

"What do you mean, sugar?" Myriam cocked her head and kept poking her.

"Well, I was simply toying with Damon and Stefan but you… Are you actually crazy enough to fool around with the Originals? Kol first, was it? Now Klaus?" Katerine let out another grunt when she stabbed herself again, unable to stop as Klaus had compelled her.

Myriam smirked as she poured a bit of alcohol in Katherine's open wound, causing the vampire to cry out in pain. "Ow, did that hurt? Poor little baby," she cooed.

"Bitch!"

She smiled as she took a step back. "You did the same with Elijah and Klaus in attempt to gain their sympathies before you learned of what they wanted you for. You played Elijah before going after Klaus because he presented the higher status in society in London. I may not have been there, but I know the stories, Katerina. Do not take me for a fool," she scolded her. "And for your information, Kol and I never had a relationship. We're friends. Klaus is my one and only."

"Oh, and that sounded music to my ears," Alaric's voice sounded as the door opened. Myriam couldn't contain herself but to fling herself around her husband, despite him being in Alaric's body. "Hello love."

"This doesn't count as cheating, right? You're you, just in a different body. I can kiss you?"

"Of course you can," he smiled at her as he kissed her, hard. "You look well, my love."

"Can't say the same about you… Alaric, really?"

"It's only temporary, not to worry."

"It'd better be. While I'm fine with kissing you like this, I want more, and I'm not willing to do that with you looking like this," she pointed at him. "Besides, I kinda like Alaric. He has a good head on his shoulders."

"He's a vampire hunter."

"True, but one that can be reasoned with. He's best buds with Damon Salvatore."

"Wait, didn't Damon kill Alaric's wife, Isobel? Turned her into one of us?"

"Yep, and guess what? Katerina sent Isobel to Damon to begin with."

"Are they stupid?"

Myriam nodded. "When aren't they? Besides, they've been useful in keeping the girl occupied and relatively out of trouble. Last I checked, they actually have your brother daggered and in holding for us. So, yes, stupid yet useful."

"He needs to remain daggered. I want him to join the rest of our family."

"Unfortunately, the Doppelganger shares some traits with her ancestors," Myriam sighed as she pulled Klaus to the couch and snuggled up against him while Katherine kept stabbing herself. Myriam wasn't entirely comfortable with Klaus in this body, nor had she been when he had been others, but at this moment it was a necessity. It gave Klaus the opportunity to scope out the town and the players without showing his true face. "Elena seems to like double crossing people. She's actually willing to sacrifice herself if that means saving her family. I won't be surprised if she'd undagger Elijah and pump him for more information about the Curse."

"I thought you bonded with her?"

"Oh please, she won't even let me inside the boarding house since it's registered to her name for safety. She knows I won't allow Elijah to sacrifice her, but still. She's a crafty little bitch and, as we speak, the Bennett witch is getting stronger, she's going to harness the power of the 100 dead Salem Witches that were burned at the same spot your mother turned you."

"You said you had everything under control!"

"I do! I have a werewolf in my basement for you to convert to your hybrid. I don't want you to sacrifice him because he's an excellent specimen and I'm pretty sure you'll like him. I have a vampire, who's my little spy despite Katerina thinking otherwise, and I have the moonstone," Myriam looked up at him. "It's your brother who throws wrenches into the plan but with him still daggered, when the next full moon comes, the Doppelganger will sacrifice herself willingly. All we need to take care of is Damon and Stefan."

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm going to pay a visit to Aunt Jenna tomorrow, would you like to join me, darling?"

She raised a brow, fighting back a grin. "You planning on ruining a doppelganger's day?"

"Of course. And tell her all about vampires," Klaus smiled. "But for now, I'm quite happy with you in my arms. Tonight I'm going to attend the Decade dance at the school as 'chaperone.' See what the Bennett witch is made out of."

Myriam looked over to Maddox. "You'll protect him with a spell, right? If not, I'll have my own ways."

"Don't worry, Miss Myriam, of course, I will protect your husband."

"Husband?" Katherine spluttered.

Sighing, Myriam got to her feet and snapped Katherine's neck. "I'm sorry, Klaus, I know you'd love to play with her, as do I, but she's getting on my nerves."

"Well, I was going to ask her all that she knew about the players, but I suppose I'll have to ask you now."

"I've told you enough, you'll be fine," she said as she nestled herself against him again. "You know, I could take you to our home…"

"When I'm back in my own body, love, then I'd love to see what you've made of the place. I haven't been back to Mystic Falls since we all left a thousand years ago. It's lovely to see what they've done with the place."

Myriam hummed as she reached for the bottle of bourbon and took a swig before handing it to Klaus. "Here's to no longer having to pretend to be a good person."

"Sweetheart, you always were a good person to the family and me. It never mattered what anyone else thought and that's what you should take stock in," Klaus toasted as he took his glass.

"Oh I don't care what they all think, but after so long having to pretend to be someone I'm not… It's a relief that I no longer have to do that," she smiled at him. "I can't wait for Damon to find out that I'm with you. He'll lose his tits."

He appeared thoughtful. "Then perhaps I should hint to him about our relationship tonight and see how he reacts. Or perhaps, imply that I may come after you after the dance simply just because I know that he is friendly with you."

"You're already going to reveal yourself tonight?"

"Of course, knowing that Elijah is close and may be undaggered by our whimsical doppelganger, we need to move things along. After all, it'll be full moon soon," he kissed the top of her head. "Will you stay here to keep Katerina company while I'm away?"

She shook her head. "No thanks. I'll check up on the werewolf in my dungeon, he's due for another feeding. I mean, I neglected him for a few days, and he was starving so…" she shrugged. "But you can pick me up when you're done? We'll have a stroll through the town together."

"I now see why you were so against Marcellus when I took him in," Klaus barked out a laugh. "You'd be a horrible mother."

"Hey, in this case, it's a soundproof dungeon. I don't hear him, and I forget he's even there!"

~o.O.o~

"Hi, Jenna!" Myriam smiled brightly at her as she shoved a pecan pie into her hands that she had picked up from the bakery. "Alaric thought it'd be nice to invite me over for dinner as well, no idea why, but he'd better cook up a decent meal!"

"Myriam?" Jenna blinked confused before looking at Alaric. "What?"

"I have some things to say to you today while we're having dinner, I thought it'd be nice if you had a familiar face around," Klaus said as he kissed the top of Jenna's head and followed Myriam into the kitchen with the bag of groceries he was carrying.

"Uh, sure, but Myriam and I aren't exactly friends? Only when she's pouring me a drink at the Grill."

"Yes! That's why I'm here!" Myriam nodded as she lifted a few bottles of alcohol out of the bag. "You need your favorite drink while he shares what he needs to share with you!"

"Alaric, are you breaking up with me for Damon's bartender only because I'm angry with you for keeping things from me?" Jenna asked as she put her hands on her side.

"Oh please," Myriam huffed. "I've been happily married for a very long time."

"And yet, you're not wearing your ring," Alaric pointed out. "I told you to wear it."

Myriam thought for a moment. "Maybe once you're yourself again. Not like this." She poured Jenna a drink and handed it to her. "Sit, relax, and let Alaric do all the cooking while he talks."

When the doorbell rang, Myriam got to her feet and opened the door. "Stefan! Hi!"

"Uh… what are you doing here?" Stefan blinked as he saw Myriam and walked inside the house. "Are you protecting Jenna?"

"Yeah… I'm protecting Jenna and Alaric, after all, Klaus is in town, isn't he? I promised Elena that I'd-"

"Wait, Alaric's here?"

Myriam nodded with a smile and led him into the kitchen. "Look who decided to join us!"

"Oh, hi, Stefan, how's it going?" Alaric smiled at him. "How's Elena?"

"Uh, I wouldn't know, she and her new friend needed some personal time," he said confused but sat down next to Jenna to protect her. "What are you doing, Ric?"

"Oh, you know, I find chopping so calming. The feel of the blade in my hand, maybe," Alaric said as he chopped the carrots.

"I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what the fuck is going on!" Jenna demanded. "You're all acting strange!"

"Well, would you like to tell her, Stefan? Or shall I?"

"Tell me what?" Jenna blinked.

Myriam slid around the counter and put an arm around Jenna. "Do you believe in vampires, Jenna?"

"Myriam!" Stefan had a hint of panic in his voice. "What are you doing?!"

"Oh, apparently Stefan does," Alaric laughed. "But believe it or not, they do have a place in our history. And as a history teacher, I find them fascinating."

Jenna shook her head. "Why are we even talking about this?"

Alaric laughed. "Well, you've been angry with me for keeping secrets, and this is one of my secrets. I'm obsessed with vampires. There. I said it."

"You're joking, please tell me you're joking," Jenna sighed exasperatedly. "Really? Vampires?"

Alaric walked over to the stove to stir in some pots. "I'm not joking, Jenna. How about you, Stefan? Are you a fan of vampires?"

"In literature," Stefan replied. "Bram Stoker. It's dense, but I appreciate it."

Alaric hummed in appreciation as he turned around again. "Hmm. Did you know that vampires are the oldest creatures of the night? Except for werewolves, of course."

Jenna got to her feet and started to walk away from the counter. "Werewolves. Werewolves. Now I know you're joking."

"You know, I've read that there's an Aztec curse on both species that keeps werewolves slaves to the Moon and vampires bound by the Sun. Isn't that right, Stefan? You know, they say these creatures would do anything to have this curse broken and that they wouldn't care who they had to kill to do it."

"Oh, don't look so shocked, Jenna," Myriam smiled at her. "I mean, it's the same in the animal kingdom, isn't it? You've got the lions and the lambs. Same deal when it comes to vampires and humans."

"Are you quoting Twilight?" Jenna spluttered. "Seriously?"

Myriam scratched her head in confusion. "What's Twilight?"

"Oh, it's a book, love, and a movie?" Alaric smiled and watched as Myriam turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Whaaat? You told me! Don't play dumb now!"

"It's a part of my cover, dammit!"

"Wait…" Stefan said as he looked at Myriam. "You know Klaus?"

"Didn't Elena tell you? I know all the Originals, and it was so much fun seeing you run around in circles all this time!"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't Elena say anything to you? She knew the entire time that I know Elijah and Klaus. Besides, you never came to me for help, so I didn't offer it to you," Myriam shrugged. "Must be that duplicity that those damn doppelgangers are so famous for."

"Get out," Jenna said sternly. "Get the hell out of my house!"

"Oh, it doesn't work that way, sugar," Myriam purred as she pulled Jenna back into the kitchen and made her sit down. "You invited us in, and we have no inclination to leave just yet…"

"What do you want from me!" Jenna demanded.

"We merely want you to know the truth about what your niece has gotten you involved in. And Alaric too, I suppose," Myriam shrugged. "I mean, vampire hunter? Hello?"

"Myriam, don't," Stefan begged her. "Elena wouldn't want this."

"She's a child, Stefan. Besides, Jenna would be a lot safer if she knew what the hell was going on in her niece's life, wouldn't you agree? You can leave if you want to, we don't need you for this."


	15. Chapter 15

"Well, this body has outlived his usefulness," Klaus said as they were walking back to Alaric's apartment. "Good thing that Maddox and Greta are on their way back with my body."

Myriam looped her arm through Klaus' and sighed. "I just made a couple more enemies."

Klaus let out a chuckle. "Love, they've always been your playthings. Your pets. Pets die."

"I know, but… I've grown to like these pets."

"And they were all a means to an end," Klaus reminded her. "Aren't you sick of this little town yet?"

She sighed again. "If you stick around for a while longer, you'll see that it's like a daytime television show. So much drama, so much intrigue… who needs television when you have Mystic Falls? I'm merely sad that my friends are going to hate me now because of the fear mongering. You're the big bad wolf because you need to sacrifice people to break your curse. Elijah is the good guy because he wants to kill you."

"Ah, what else is new? You'll be by my side when we break the curse, won't you?"

"Of course. With my invisible friends. I wouldn't allow anything to happen to you," she then let out a sigh. "Apparently our guest received a visitor today, and they handed her vervain."

"Well, that's inconvenient."

"That depends, my love," Myriam replied as she smiled up at him. "We could make her believe she can't be influenced anymore, but I could have her possessed, and she could do our bidding in any case."

"You'd need a mighty demon, Katarina won't bow down that easily."

"I already had one on her. I love toying with that bitch," she replied as they took the stairs to Alaric's apartment and heard loud music blasting out of it. "I can have her do so many things…"

"I can't believe they call this music," Klaus muttered as he opened the door to the apartment and let Myriam walk in before him. "You mind turning that down?" He ordered Katerina, who rolled her eyes and did as she was told.

"Why so grumpy?" she asked.

"This body has outlived its usefulness."

"Do you want a drink?"

Myriam growled as she snatched the bottle from Katerina's hand and threw it against the wall before pinning the vampire down. "Listen to me, you little shit. I know. I know about your visitors this afternoon. Hand it over."

"Hand what over, exactly?" Katerina asked innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Myriam, that's enough, love. I don't care if she has vervain on her, she'll do as she'll be told in any case, won't she?"

Myriam scowled as she released Katerina and instructed the demon to listen to whatever Klaus wanted Katerina to do, and she wouldn't have any chance of not listening.

"Now sit down, and shut up," Klaus told Katherine before he heard Maddox returning. Finally. He turned to look at the door. "Maddox! Welcome back! You took your time!"

"You have a lot of luggage," Maddox replied as he was followed by some vampires who were carrying his luggage. And then Greta walked in. Myriam wanted to rip the witch' head off, but they needed her to put Klaus back into his own body.

"Greta!" Klaus greeted her warmly. "Finally!"

"Hello love," she widely smiled as she approached him, and Myriam was sitting on her hands to make sure she wouldn't act upon her impulses.

"Hello."

"Nice body," Greta smiled up at him appreciatively. "You ready to get out of it?"

Klaus hummed his answer with a slow nod. Myriam let out a low growl and used one of her spirits, not one of her demons, mark Greta's neck harshly, causing Greta to flinch and grab the back of her neck. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Ghosts. I don't know, it hurts," the witch let out a sigh as she grabbed her bag. "We need to prepare, talk amongst yourselves for a while."

Klaus gently pulled Myriam towards the open kitchen. "Sweetheart, I know you don't like her much," he said in a hushed voice. For Myriam to actively use one of her confined spirits rather than one of her demons meant she meant business. "But we need her. I need her to break the curse. Please leave her in one piece until after she's done what I want her to do? You think you will be able to control yourself until tomorrow night?"

"Stop flirting," she said as she pulled him closer to her and reached out to cup his balls. "You're in a human body now, until it's time to put you back in your own. I could hurt you so bad, you have no idea. You're mine."

"Myriam."

"Klaus," she evenly said as she stared him down. "You're mine. And as soon as you're back in your body, you're coming home with me."

"Myriam, I-"

"I could always ask the demon I put on you if you've been nothing but honourable, but if you haven't been…"

"I have, love," he calmly replied as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Now please let go of Alaric's manhood, or I might start questioning your honour."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she lifted her hand to slap him, but Klaus caught her hand. "Cochon!"

"Greta, please hurry, my wife is impatient," he called out to his witch as he didn't look away from Myriam, loving the fire in her eyes. "And I have to admit, so am I."

Greta let out a chuckle as she placed her candles. "Just a while longer."

"Elijah's been telling Elena everything about you and him and the curse," Myriam said as she looked at Klaus. "She undaggered him, the bitch. Why are doppelgangers always so predictable and devious?"

Klaus shrugged. "I'll deal with Elijah. He's simply not allowed to kill me when I'm in transition."

Myriam sighed as she pulled her wrist back from him and turned to pour herself another drink. "And let me guess, you're not interested in sex either until after your transition?" She then turned to face him again. "If you say no, I'll be leaving right now."

"That's not nice."

"I'm not nice."

"Don't be daft, you are very nice."

"Ugh, I want to vomit," Katerina remarked.

"And we told you to shut your whore mouth!" Myriam shot at her, forcing her demon to hurt Katerina a little for speaking up.

"We're ready, Lord Klaus," Maddox spoke with respect in his voice towards his master as he didn't want to face the wrath of Myriam. "We can put you back in your own body now."

"Finally!" Myriam exclaimed as she pushed Klaus towards his own body that was still in the damn trunk.

Maddox and Greta chanted for a while until the candles all lit up brightly. Myriam couldn't stand to be patient, and when Alaric gasped and fell to the ground after thinking Katerina was Elena, she rushed over to the trunk and opened it.

Klaus walked out of the trunk, looked around and smiled brightly. "Now, that's more like it!"

Myriam flung herself around his neck, kissing him hard. "Thank God they didn't fuck up," she muttered into the kiss.

"I have one more thing to do," he broke off the kiss and took her hand, gently squeezing it. "Then I'm all yours, I promise." Klaus then let go of her and shook Alaric awake. "Good, you're awake. You're going to have a rest, and in the morning you will tell your friends that the ritual will happen today."

"I will," Alaric said as he got to his feet and walked straight to bed.

Klaus then turned to Greta and Maddox. "Tomorrow you'll acquire me the vampire and werewolf we've picked out. Until then, you'll babysit our guest. I'll be back in the morning, I have a wife to please."

"Of course," Greta and Maddox smiled widely. "Good to have you back in your own body, Klaus."

~o.O.o~

"I must say, you were right about Mystic Falls," Klaus said as he and Myriam walked through town followed by Greta and Maddox. The two witches had their mission, and Maddox, in particular, had gotten creative last night by throwing Carol Lockwood of the stairs so that Tyler would return.

Of course, there was a werewolf ready and waiting for Klaus in Myriam's basement, but even he agreed that that wolf would make a great hybrid. He looked strong. Well built. Lots of potential. "I can see why you love it so much."

"I don't love it, I love New Orleans, but the appeal is here. Small towns are almost like a time capsule," she replied as they strolled down main street together. The moment they had arrived at home the previous night, she had put on her wedding ring again. There was no need to hide anymore.

"But why are you dragging me with you to do something so… mundane?"

"What? Me quitting my job at the Mystic Grill?" Myriam smiled up at him. "Well, because I just know you want to cause some trouble, make some people shiver in their boots. Damon and Alaric are there. Pity drinking."

"Damon. Right. Your friend."

"I don't think he wishes to be my friend anymore," she winked at him. "Which sucks, but it seems like the stories about you and Elijah's stories truly made you the big bad. Which, in association, makes me a bitch."

"They don't know you're my wife yet, do they?"

"No, just that I'm on your side and not Elijah's. They think out of fear."

Klaus smirked then. "Let's have some fun," he kissed the top of her head. "You go, I'll join you in a bit."

Myriam giggled as she headed inside the grill and found the manager. "Hey Dwayne," she greeted him with a smile. "I'm handing in my notice, effective immediately."

"What? Why? You're the best we've ever had!"

Myriam shrugged. "That's bullshit. You should promote Matt, though. He's doing a great job. Keep my pay, put it back into the Grill. I know you're struggling."

Dwayne sighed and nodded. "Well, if you ever need a job… you're always welcome to return."

"Thanks, Dwayne," she said as she moved out of sight, observing her husband who had now walked up to Damon and Alaric.

"Gentlemen, why so glum?" Klaus asked, causing Alaric to stand up straight and Damon looking over his shoulder.

"Ugh," Damon sighed as he looked back at his drink. "Klaus, I presume?"

"In the flesh," he smiled coyly before looking at Alaric. "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

Damon angrily got to his feet, trying to intimidate Klaus. "Any reason you stopped by to say 'hi'?"

"I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppelganger. Just thought I'd remind you to do not do anything you'll regret."

Damon barked out a laugh. "Ha! Thanks for your advice," he said all smugly. "Don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement by any chance, huh?"

Klaus smiled then, shaking his head as he looked down at the bar for a moment. "You are kidding," he replied as he met Damon's eyes before looking over his shoulder to find Alaric. "He is kidding, right?"

"No, not really," Alaric replied stoically.

"I mean, come on, what's one more month in all the grand scheme of things?"

"Let me be clear," Klaus said calmly, turning to Damon and taking a step towards him. "I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So, if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up."

"Hi guys," Myriam said lightly as she moved between Damon and Klaus. "How's it going?"

"You and I need to talk," Damon told her sternly. "Elena told me what happened with Rose. Where the hell have you been?"

"Right here," Myriam said with a shrug. "In town, helping my husband get situated, what do you think?"

"You're married?"

"I told you I was, didn't I?" Myriam scratched the back of her head. "Oh, I must have neglected to say that. Some secrets are meant to be kept."

"And why are you working with him, of all people?"

"What? With Klaus?" Myriam laughed then. "I'm sorry Damon, I don't know what scary stories Elijah must have told you, or Rose, or Katherine, but Klaus is not the bad guy in this situation. He merely wants his curse to be removed so he can be truly free. What's so bad about that?"

"People are going to die, Myriam!" Damon shot at her. "And I thought you said you'd keep Elena safe!"

"From everyone who'd come after her and Elijah, yes. I'm not allowing Elijah to use Elena for the ritual so he can kill Klaus," Myriam said, shaking her head. "I told her to listen, I guess she needs her ears cleaned or something. I never said I'd save her from Klaus. And vampires can be easily created, so what's the big deal?"

"What's the- this isn't you talking!" Damon cried out. "Did he compel you?"

"No?" Myriam said confused as she pulled vervain out of her pocket. "I drink vervain, and I wear it on me as protection from Elijah. It also means that this fella behind me can't compel me. Been there, done that."

"People are going to die, Myriam!"

"No," Myriam said sternly. "A supernatural doppelganger is. A vampire is. A werewolf is. They're not humans. I value human life as much as anyone else, but once you're supernatural doesn't mean you can't die."

"Myriam, in particular, has a hatred towards werewolves, don't you, love?" Klaus said playfully. "And witches, but werewolves are the worst."

"Ha!" Damon pointed out. "If Klaus turns, he'll become a hybrid. A werewolf and a vampire!"

"I'm not stupid, Damon," Myriam replied with a sigh. "Nothing will change, only that he'll be a hybrid. He'll always be the man I married, no matter what changes."

Alaric spat out his drink, and Damon's jaw just about fell on the floor. "Excuse you?"

"Klaus and I have been married for over 300 years. Every time I was in Mystic Falls was for him. Especially after Elena was born. Everything I did, was for him. And now that he's here…" Myriam smiled brightly as she looked at her husband with pride. "I can't wait to remain by his side for the rest of our lives now. We've spent far too long apart."

"You're making me sick," Damon scowled. "You're better than this."

"Does your opinion of me really change because I'm Klaus' wife? And that I'd do anything for him? I'm still the same person you came to know, Damon."

"Yeah, no. Goodbye, Myriam."

"You're such a child, Damon," Myriam huffed as she put her arm through Klaus' and followed him out.

"Love, I-"

"Don't waste your breath," she sighed. "I kinda knew this would happen. It hurts, but hey, so did him turning because of Katerina. His… exposure to other vampires is limited."

"Would you like me to kill him?"

"If anyone kills him, it's going to be me," Myriam said grumpily. "Come on, you're buying me an ice cream before we return to the preparations for tonight."

"Do you think we can trust Katerina in calling out dear Aunt Jenna?" Klaus mused.

"Under the threat of death? Sure!"

That evening, Myriam hid in the Quarry. She could oversee just about everything in the area, and she brought a bag of popcorn and a bottle of wine to entertain herself with. One false move by anyone and she'd snap their heads off their torsos.

The ritual went ahead as planned. As expected. With the backups. Even with Stefan showing up. When Bonnie showed up and started to hurt her husband, Myriam sent her demons over to weaken the witch so she'd stop with the spells. Myriam could have come down to kill Bonnie, but Myriam knew better than to attack someone as powerful as her and Klaus was slightly more durable even in this weakened state.

His cries of agony, however, hurt her.

She was about to step in when Elijah pushed his hand inside Klaus' torso. "No!" She cried out before rushing over and trying to stop Elijah from killing Klaus. "Don't! He's your brother!"

"Stay out of this, Myriam," Elijah slapped her face, pushing her away from him.

"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus sputtered, gasping between his words.

"What?" Elijah questioned him.

"Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you shall never find them."

"Elijah!" Stefan called out to him. "Don't listen to him!"

"Elijah," Klaus said in barely a whisper. "I can take you to them. I give you my word. Brother."

Bonnie took a step forward as she looked at Elijah. "Do it, and I'll take you both out."

"You'll die," Elijah told her.

"I don't care."

Elijah sneered as he seemed to think about his options before looking at Stefan and Bonnie. "I'm sorry."

"No!" Bonnie and Stefan chorused as they lunged forward but Elijah was faster with taking Klaus away, leaving Myriam by herself. "You bitch!" Bonnie yelled at Myriam before she started to shoot pain infliction spells at the vampire.

"Bonnie, no," Stefan stopped her. "She's got nothing to do with this."

"You heard Damon! She's with Klaus!"

"That doesn't mean that she's a bad person, now release her. We need to go back for Elena."

Bonnie reluctantly released Myriam, who nodded a thanks to Stefan and ran off in the direction she saw Elijah run off to. Myriam was stopped by Elijah then, who had a heap of clothes next to him. "Leave," he said easily. "I'll take care of Niklaus from here."

Myriam cocked her head for a moment before she scoffed. "Arrogant prick. You haven't changed a bit. If you truly cared for your brother, you wouldn't have schemed behind his back. Just fuck off to whence you came."

"You know what surprises me?" Elijah asked as he finished cleaning his hands with his handkerchief. "That you're still alive."

"And you know what surprises me?" Myriam countered as she used all of her demons to subdue him. As he lay on the ground, stiffened, she stood over him with a smirk on her face. "You always think you scare me, but trust me, Elijah, you don't. Now stay down. I'll take care of his happy little accidents on the way. I'll release you when he returns."

Myriam followed Klaus around for two days and was there when he returned back to normal, completely naked. Too bad she'd brought his clothes with her. "Welcome back," she smiled at him. "You've been busy."

"That was amazing," Klaus said, remembering the experience. "How long has it been?" He asked as he got to his feet to get dressed.

"Just under two days," Myriam said as she looked at him appreciatively. "Full moon came and went. You remained a wolf. And don't get dressed on my account."

Klaus let out a chuckle. "You can have me later, love." He fastened his belt. "I can change at will then. That's good to know. I remember every single kill."

"Yeah, good. Because I've been cleaning up your little mess along the way."

"Normally that's Elijah's job."

"Elijah is… incapacitated until you returned," Myriam replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "So what, you and Elijah are best buds again?"

"Of course not," Klaus huffed. "I said I'd reunite him with our family, didn't I?"

Myriam thought for a moment and then smiled. "And he thinks he gets to walk the earth still."

"Exactly," Klaus winked at her. "We'll have him reunited with our family shortly. And I'll have my Ripper back."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, you'll find out shortly. I think you'll love what I have in mind," Klaus said all mysterious. "Now, undo what you did to Elijah, it's time to catch up with my brother, and introduce him again to Katerina. Vervain or not, she's still compelled not to leave until I say so."

"Just promise me you won't push me away."

"It's you who always leaves!"

"I don't want to!" She shot back at him. "I want to live in peace and not having to run all the time, is that too much to ask? Mikael is out of commission, can't we just go somewhere and settle down? Back in New Orleans, maybe?"

"Perhaps," he smiled at her as he took her hand. "Once I have what I'm after."

Myriam knew precisely what he was after; they had discussed this for quite some time, and she wouldn't stop him. She had her demons, he could have his own pets. "Promise?"

"I promise."

"Can I have Kol back?"

"Not at this point, no. He'll only try to thwart our plans."

"But when we're settled?"

"Yes, love. You can have Kol back then until he does something stupid and we'll have to dagger him again," he replied. "Now please stop with the questions and let's find my brother so we can take him to Katerina."

"You're such an asshole sometimes," Myriam muttered. "Kol would have been amazing to have with me while I was doing this for you."

Klaus let out a chuckle. "Don't make me laugh. He'd take the moonstone and throw it into the nearest active volcano he can find."

"Keep it up and who knows, you might end up in an active volcano yourself," she countered sharply. "It's your own fault that he doesn't like you."

He growled then. "It's that you're my wife and that I love you. Otherwise, I would have killed you for speaking to me like that."

"Oh, is that how things are going to go? Really? You know what, you've got what you wanted, maybe I'll just fuck off and leave you to deal with Elijah by yourself. I somehow have the feeling that I'll only be in your way while I've been your biggest supporter for centuries, Klaus. I've always been in your corner."

"And yet, you're talking down at me! Threatening me!"

"Because you are doing the same!"

"Then let's stop!"

"Fine!" Myriam shot back at him. "Elijah can wait," she then said as she pulled Klaus down into the bushes. "You're mine now."

~o.O.o~

She remained quiet and by Klaus' side as he promised Elijah that he'd reunite him with their siblings shortly, and headed back to Alaric's apartment where Katerina still resided, and she had an unexpected guest. "Well, you just keep popping up everywhere, aren't you?" Klaus asked Stefan.

"I need your help. For my brother."

"Well, whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait a tick," Klaus replied. "You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention," he added before passing Stefan to get something.

"You understand how important family is or you wouldn't be here," Elijah said as he approached Stefan. "My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own."

"And so I shall," Klaus said before plunging the silver dagger into him, causing Elijah to cry out in pain and fall to the floor. Myriam let out a rejoicing sound as she poked Elijah's desiccated body with her foot. Klaus then grabbed Stefan and pushed him up the wall. "Now, what to do with you?"

"Nothing too painful, Klaus," Myriam told him with a slight giggle as she kicked Elijah again. "He did save me from the wrath of a Bennett witch."

Klaus pushed a stake through Stefan's stomach. "Oh, well… too late."

Stefan fell against Klaus and gasped for breath.

"Do you feel that?" Klaus whispered. "It's scraping against your heart. The slightest little movement and you're dead."

"He's just trying to help his brother," Katerina piped up, a sudden braveness overcoming her.

"The witches said you had a cure," Stefan managed to speak out before he looked at Klaus. "Make me a deal. Just give me the cure, and I'll do whatever you want."

Klaus pulled out the stake, and Stefan dropped to the ground with a groan. "Oh, right, your brother was bitten by a wolf," he mused. "Trouble is, Stefan, I don't know if you'd be any good to me the way you are now," he said as he poured himself a glass of human blood. "You're just shy of useless." He took a sip before moving over to Stefan and squatted down before him. "I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades."

It was then when Myriam realised which Ripper Klaus had referred to earlier. "Klaus, no."

"It's alright, sweetheart, I won't let any harm come over him, I promise."

"You can't, he's…"

"Just the way I want him to be… if he's off the wagon, of course," he smiled at her before looking back at Stefan. "When this bloke was off the wagon, he was magnificent. 1917, he went into Monterey and wiped out an entire immigrant village… a true Ripper," he got to his feet as he took another sip of his blood. "Sound familiar?"

"I haven't been that way in a very long time," Stefan sighed.

"Well, that's the vampire I can make a deal with. That is the kind of talent I can use when I leave town. Katerina, come here," he said sweetly. When she gave her his hand, he bit into it.

"No!" Katerina whined. "No!"

Klaus then bit in his own wrist and fed her his blood, curing the bite instantly. "You want your cure?" He asked Stefan as he wiped his mouth. "There it is."

"Your blood is the cure."

"Gotta love Mother Nature," Klaus smiled as he put a hand on Stefan's shoulder. "Now, let's talk, you and I."

They sat down at the bar and Myriam poured herself a glass of wine. She was in two minds about this. She had recently saved Mystic Falls from the beginning Ripper, but to have Stefan go all out? She was afraid of what would happen. Luckily, Klaus could compel him to behave, but still. She still didn't like Stefan for what he did to Damon, and for what he did to her Zak, but did he really deserve this? Would he be able to come back from this after Klaus would release him from his deal? Myriam finished her glass and poured herself another while Klaus used a knife to put some of his blood in a vial.

"You want the cure, how about a decade-long bender?" Klaus asked Stefan. "You know, I have big plans for you when we leave this town."

"I'm not like that anymore."

"Well, that's too bad. You would have made one hell of a wingman," he said as he started to pour his blood down the drain.

"Wait," Stefan quickly said.

"Now that's more like it. Join me for a drink, Stefan," he slid the big bag of blood across the counter.

"Yeah, I'm not sticking around for this," Myriam said as she snatched Klaus' bottle. "Release Katerina, she and I are going to bring this to Damon and then she's free to go."

"What!"

"Do it, Klaus," Myriam told him, eager to get out of the apartment as she knew what Klaus was going to do, feed the Ripper, and she really didn't want to see that with her own eyes. "And once you're done playing, you can join me at our home."

He rolled his eyes at her before motioning Katerina over to release her. "Bring this vial to Damon, and leave. I'd hurry if I were you, he might not have long." Once Myriam and Katherine were out, he turned back to Stefan. "Women, right? Drink up, I've got more for you!"


	16. Chapter 16

Myriam didn't want any part in 'Stefan and Klaus' Awesome Adventures' in finding a werewolf pack. Klaus no doubt was revelling in his freedom, something Myriam had hoped he'd do with her, but he instead spent the time with Stefan the Ripper. And Stefan the Ripper hurt her heart.

She couldn't stay in Mystic Falls. She needed everyone to decompress and not be so… hateful. Returning to New Orleans without Klaus or any Original vampire would likely mean death. So, instead, Myriam went to Disney World. She then spent a few weeks in Hawaii, before heading back to Europe for a few weeks.

Oh, Klaus wasn't too happy about it, but Myriam didn't want to spend weeks and weeks surrounded by him and Stefan having fun together. Besides, he was looking for werewolves, and she hated those. So. Much.

She found a wolf pack in a small village in Indonesia and set their town on fire. She was fast, but not fast enough as a wolf had bitten her, and she didn't have Klaus' blood on her. Frustrated, she sent him a text to meet up and he sent Chicago. Great. She had to endure a very long flight to get the cure.

She hated wolves.

By the time she landed in Chicago, she felt as if her skin was infested by ants, crawling underneath every layer and she wanted it to stop. Klaus was waiting for her as she got off the plane. "Did you learn your lesson?" Klaus said lightly. "You do not play with wolves all by yourself."

"Do we need to do this now?"

"Well…"

Myriam growled. "If you want to get rid of me so bad…"

"Don't be ridiculous," Klaus huffed as he bit his hand and offered it to her. "Just promise you'll stay? I'm about to get Rebekah out of her box."

Myriam drank what she needed, she could feel his blood mix with her own and rid her body of the wolf infection. "Rebekah?" she asked as she wiped her mouth. "Why?"

"Do you remember her necklace? It was our Mother's."

"Yeah…"

"Gloria needs it so she can tell me how I can make hybrids without killing more wolves."

Myriam took her bag and hit him over the head with it. "You know it yourself! Just use your brain!"

"What do you mean?"

She let out a frustrated groan. "What was used to create you?"

"The blood of a doppelganger."

"Right. And what was used to bind your wolfy side?"

"The blood of a doppelganger."

"And what was used to unbind that curse?"

"The blood of-"

"A freaking doppelganger. Now, tell me, you're something unnatural, what will you need to balance out the fact that you're both a freaking wolf and a vampire?"

"Elena's blood?"

"Ding ding! You win the laundry machine!" Myriam cheered. "No need for that witch or undaggering Rebekah. Besides, the necklace you seek was in Elena's possession, Stefan gave it to her. I guess Stefan has it back or Jeremy has it."

"What?!" Klaus fumed. "And it wasn't his to give!"

Myriam shrugged. "Don't ask me how he got it. I don't know that," she replied as she looped her arm through his. "So, why Chicago?"

"For the witch, of course," Klaus sighed, shaking his head. "But now I won't have to bother. I am going to kill her, though. And we'll have some fun with Stefan… and Rebekah. You see… back in 1922… I met Stefan Salvatore here in Chicago, and he was magnificent."

"Let me guess," she sighed. "He fell in love with Rebekah, so you daggered her and compelled him."

"Mikael was in town, working with the Chicago Police Department. I had to think quick on my feet."

"Ah."

"But wouldn't it be nice if I told Stefan to remember when I produce Rebekah?"

"You're evil," Myriam nodded. "Do it. You are making him a Ripper again after I detoxed him for the safety of Mystic Falls and your doppelganger is a good punishment for him after all the shit he's done in the past. And torturing him is always a good thing. Rebekah will get over it."

She quietly followed Klaus when he went to fetch Stefan and undaggered Rebekah, before following them to Stefan's old apartment. She was fascinated with the stories Klaus told her about Stefan, how he had encountered him before, and how he knew how Stefan operated as Ripper. Myriam knew that Klaus was disappointed, he couldn't make hybrids without a doppelganger, they'd likely had to wait for another 500 years for him to be able to do so.

When Klaus and Stefan left the apartment, Myriam lingered, because she wanted to know more. She wanted to read every single name that Stefan had written down, not out of guilt, but because they were trophies. Reading their names reminded him of the kill, the thrill of the hunt and it was disturbing. "Alright, you can come out now, Elena," Myriam sighed as she pulled open the bookcase. "Klaus may not have heard your heartbeat or smelled you, but I did. So Bonnie managed to save you? Impressive!"

When Elena lunged at her with a knife, Myriam stepped aside and let the girl trip. "Oh please," she rolled her eyes at her before taking a step into the closet and was shocked to see the seemingly endless list of names. She wasn't shy when it came to killing, but she always had a reason, a good reason, when she killed. This list of names were innocent people, killed for shits and giggles by a demented maniac. "Fuck me," she muttered.

It wasn't just a list of the people he killed in Chicago, but his father's name was on it, too. Same as Zak Salvatore. So he was proud of killing them both? "Jesus fuck, Elena, and you chose to love him?"

"That's not Stefan," she said quickly as she got to her feet. "Not the Stefan that I know."

"That's not the real Stefan," Myriam said as she exited the closet with another bottle of 1918 Single Malt and uncapped it before drinking almost half of it in one go. "No, feeding off of animals is safer, but it's not natural to him."

"You can cure him, right? You helped him before?"

"Why would I? Do you honestly think that Stefan can face you now that you know about his dirty little secret? I don't see him returning to Mystic Falls, at least not on his own accord," Myriam replied as she sat down on the dirty couch. "I helped him once, but that was out of my own interests and those of Klaus. Now? I don't need to. I don't want to."

"You said you'd keep me safe."

"That was before the ritual. Now everything is free game," Myriam shrugged as she took another sip from the bottle. "Hello Damon," she said as she didn't move. "Good job leaving her alone for Klaus and Stefan to find."

"Yeah, well, believe me, I had an hour to realize what a bad idea it was to leave Elena alone. I processed it and moved on," Damon replied. "Shouldn't you be hanging out with the dastardly duo?"

"I'm free to go wherever I please. I told Klaus I wanted to linger for a bit, to see his list with my own eyes."

"Painful, huh?"

"He's a psychopath."

"He's my brother."

"He's a lost cause."

"Oh screw you, Myriam. Why are you even here? Spying for Klaus?"

"Nope," Myriam said as she set the bottle down on the table and walked over to Elena. "I came to get something back, something that belonged to my family and wasn't Stefan's to give."

Elena took a step back and clutched her necklace. "No, you can't take it."

"Hand it over, or I'll break your hand," Myriam threatened her.

"Myriam!" Damon warned her. "Leave Elena alone."

"Hand it over, Elena. I won't hesitate to kill you for it. Or Damon," she said as she threw the advancing Damon into the nearest wall. "Now. Give it to me, and I'll keep mum about your status to Klaus for as long as I can." She held out her hand with a small smile on her lips. "I know it's filled with vervain, so don't you worry about that."

Elena sighed as she pulled off her necklace and gave it to Myriam, who immediately put it in a bag and into her pocket. "Good girl. Now, might I suggest you leave Chicago? If Klaus finds out you're alive, you're dead."

"I'm here to save Stefan," Elena said defiantly. "You can't stop me."

"Ah, but now that you're without your protection…" Myriam smirked as she pat her pants pocket. "I could. Wake up, Elena. If Klaus knows you're still alive, he'll want you to become his pet for your blood. Stefan doesn't want you anymore. Not now he's like this. He won't come back that easily from this like last time. You can never cure a Ripper, only manage the symptoms."

"Oh, way to crush her hope, Myriam."

"And you're foolish to help her!" Myriam shot at him. "Klaus won't hesitate to kill you, Damon, if you continue this path."

"Well you try and stop me," he said as he moved between Myriam and Elena. "You got what you came for, now you can join your husband again."

Myriam narrowed her eyes at him. "I might just kill Stefan."

"No!" Elena cried out.

Myriam let out a snort as she left the apartment, joining Klaus and Stefan in the storage facility where Klaus was keeping the rest of their family. It was so hard to see Kol's coffin and not to open it. Then again, she could open it and see how he was doing, maybe plant a new demon on him to keep him company in his slumber. Just a peek.

So that's what she did. He was laying so handsomely in his coffin, a small smile on his face. She gently caressed his desiccated face to release the demon who had kept him company for so long and for a second there, she could feel Kol stir ever so slightly. "Shh… you're getting a new one," she whispered before attaching a storyteller to him. "Soon. I've not forgotten about you, Mon Chou."

The whole Stefan/Rebekah reunion was a downer, she had anticipated more sparks, but it was quite civil. Until the necklace came up and both siblings were freaking out. "Relax," Myriam rolled her eyes as she gently closed Kol's coffin and tossed the pouch to Klaus. "Careful, Stefan put vervain in it."

"Where did you get that?"

"I've seen it on Elena's neck ever since Stefan put it on her. So… after the sacrifice, I stole it from her, because she's dead, and it's not hers," Myriam said simply as she looked at Stefan. "Bad puppy. It didn't belong to you." She then looked at Klaus. "And you already know what you need to create hybrids. You can't get it, so why still go to that witch?"

"She might know of another way," Klaus kissed her cheek. "Thank you, love, for always being so thorough."

"You know very well there isn't another way."

"And who did you ask? Your spirits? Your demons?"

"You're going to see Gloria, aren't you? You believe her but not me? She's a voodoo queen, Klaus. She's going to tell you exactly what I just told you," Myriam said before she was quiet for a moment as she looked at Stefan. "Well. That changes everything," she said as she walked to him, not moving her eyes off of him. "Stefan's been hiding something. Not sure what… but…" she snapped Stefan's neck and watched him drop to the floor. "I suppose you'll have to return to Mystic Falls to find out."

"He's my toy!" Klaus whined.

"He wasn't completely your servant, Klaus. Besides, Katerina is in town, wouldn't want him to wander off and start forming an evil little plan now, would you? Besides, now that he has his full memories, he'll remember why you ran in the first place." Myriam then sighed. "Rebekah, don't sit on your brother's coffin, he doesn't deserve that."

"I need new clothes," Rebekah said as she got to her feet and dusted herself off. "Are you coming with me, Myriam? Nik can clean up this mess himself. You need to tell me all about this era," she said as she looped her arm through Myriam's. "What did I miss?"

While Rebekah was complaining about the short hemline of skirts and dressed in this era, Myriam filled her in on the most significant changes. She was used to that now, being the one to fill in the undaggered siblings about what they'd missed. And of course, while Rebekah went to get a new wardrobe, so did Myriam. Or at least a shirt or two.

They travelled back to Mystic Falls, and Myriam decided to let the two siblings play around with Stefan and the Scoobies and went home. There was no doubt that Klaus was going to be angry with her for keeping quiet about the Doppelganger's status, but it was likely that Stefan was going to get the brunt of it.

Klaus was so focused on making his hybrids that he had mostly ignored her. His wife. The one person who truly stood with him for the last 300 years. And since she wasn't allowed to undagger Kol as Klaus was afraid that he'd sabotage Klaus' plans, she'd have to think of other ways to entertain herself. Of course, she could go back to New Orleans and run her club, but she had missed Klaus so much that she'd rather stick around for a while longer.

Myriam took the peace and quiet as time to release some of her long-serving demons and to summon others to take their place in the talismans. For some reason, Katerina had found a way to block most of the demon that Myriam had put on her. She could see some images, but there was no sound. Katerina was up to something, and Myriam felt that it could be big.

"Ugh," Rebekah said as she walked into the house. "Niklaus is hanging out with his new favourite toy, ordered Stefan to turn his emotions off and look after the Doppelganger. Nik actually left me here on my own! What can I do in this dull town?"

"And a hello to you too, Rebekah," Myriam said as she cleaned up her little trinkets. "You could get a job?"

"Ew, no."

"Or what about school? I know you love going to school and you've missed out on a lot of things, so…" Myriam suggested. "That way you can keep an eye on Stefan for Klaus, and also on Elena and her friends."

Rebekah seemed to think for a moment and then smiled brightly. "Brilliant idea! I'd make an amazing cheerleader, don't you think?"

"I suppose you will," Myriam smiled at her. "There's this annoying blonde vampire who could do with being taken a few notches down. Want me to help to enrol you?"

"Nah, I'll just compel, like I always do."

Myriam shrugged then. "Fine," she said with a sigh. "Pick any room you want, except mine. No wild parties, no bodies left in the house."

"You're not my mother."

"No, but this is my house, so you live by my rules."

"I thought this was our house?!"

Myriam let out a snort as she walked out of the room. "Have fun in school, Rebekah, the first day of school is tomorrow!"

"Yeah, you know what?" Rebekah said as she grabbed her bag. "You're no fun. I'll go and hang out with the Salvatores!"

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

"What is wrong with you, Myriam? You're usually a lot more fun than this!"

"What is wrong? Oh, I don't know, Rebekah. I'm just pissed at your brother for ignoring me and most of my suggestions to make things a lot smoother for him after everything that I have done for him!" Myriam shot at her. "I had this house built 150 years ago, I had it renovated before I moved back in. I made sure he had everything he needed to break his damn curse, and all I get is a few quickies and not even a 'see you later' as he toddled off with his new pet!"

"Sounds to me you need a break, love," Rebekah said bored. "Do what you do best, disappear. You know as well as I do that Nik loves a good hunt."

Myriam sighed. "Yeah, but when will he do that? He's too busy creating hybrids, and he won't stop until the Doppelganger is dead."

"He will come to find you, eventually," Rebekah replied with a shrug. "You know Nik. You've always known that he was an egotistical and selfish bastard. You could as well divorce him."

"Get out of my house, Rebekah," Myriam said in a low, threatening voice. "If you know what's good for you, you leave, now."

"Yep," Rebekah nodded as she headed for the door for the final time. "You're definitely no fun."

~o.O.o~

For the next few weeks, Myriam bunkered down in her home. She had one of her servants get groceries, the other blood bags, and she remained in her home.

Oh, she knew exactly what was going on. Bonnie had opened the door to the Other Side when she brought Jeremy back to life. The Original Witch opened it wider, ghosts were appearing all over town and with the Tomb vampires back and hungry for revenge on the founding families, Rebekah had to hand over her mother's necklace to Bonnie so Bonnie could close the door again. Fix things.

Elena had summoned Lexi to help her with Stefan, but of course, she wasn't strong enough to see it through by herself, and things were just going to go so horribly that Myriam didn't even want to leave her house.

Much to her own horror, her mother showed herself to her. Myriam pretended not to see Veronique as she tried to find out how it was possible for her mother to reveal herself to her. Veronique had only been in France and Italy, never in Mystic Falls. She had died in Nice.

"I never understood why you decided to run with vampires, mon petit," her mother had spoken. "They're unnatural, they can't be controlled."

She was spouting all the stuff Myriam wasn't willing to hear. Because they were lies. When Myriam finally discovered how her mother was with her, she took the locket that held her mother's ashes and threw it in the fire to destroy it. Once her mother was gone, she went through all of her stuff to make sure she didn't have anything related to her mother or Gaia or anyone else she'd spend time within the past. She made sure that everything she owned, had been cleansed by her after acquiring it. It made sense her old lockets were tainted.

Katerina had successfully resurrected Mikael. Myriam suspected as much when her demon managed to send a flash image of a desiccated Mikael in his coffin a day before. There was no doubt that Mikael was being drawn to Mystic Falls by the Scoobies so they could kill Klaus. But Klaus was long gone and how were they going to draw him back? Likely with some shenanigans.

Myriam decided to let her fear push her anger towards her husband aside and called him. "Hey, where are you?"

"Nowhere near Mystic Falls, why aren't you with me?"

"Because you left Rebekah and me behind when Mikael's name was dropped, you moron!"

"My apologies, love."

"Yeah, right," Myriam huffed. "Anyway… Katerina found Mikael and figured out how to wake him. He's in Mystic Falls now. There's no doubt that you'll receive a call from your loyal lapdog to come back for some reason. Just know that they want to kill you and will have Mikael to do it, likely with help from Katerina."

"And why aren't you taking care of this?"

"Because if you think that I'm leaving my sanctuary that is my house right now, you're insane. Mikael scares the shit out of me, thanks to you. Even with all my pets, I'm pretty sure he'd be able to get to me."

Klaus laughed then. "Alright love, I'll play along with everyone. I have amassed an army in the short time that I've been gone."

"Sure, but do account for the fact that they're normal hybrids and not an Original hybrid? Mikael can compel them."

"I'll come back when I have a good plan, love, thank you. Will you join me in destroying Mikael?"

"No. Because I'm still pissed off at you."

"What did I do?!"

"And if you have to ask me that question, you're an asshole. Use your brain," Myriam angrily replied as she disconnected the phone.

Klaus came back in town two days later, her demon on him alerted her on that. She wanted the demon to keep Klaus safe, not to allow Klaus to lose his cool when confronted with Mikael and she sent a little bit of her fear along with the demon so Klaus could feel what she felt, in a more moderate dosage seeing as Klaus was fearful of Mikael on his own.

She was there in spirit, through her connection to the demon and she was so proud of Klaus for standing up to Mikael and killing him. He brought home Mikael's ashes and sought comfort, release, in having sex with Myriam, who was still pissed at him, but she never turned down sex with him. Not when they both needed it so badly.

The next day, Myriam woke up when the demon she put with Kol woke her up, telling her that Kol's body was on the move, and was surrounded by Elijah, Finn, and Esther. Still, all boxed but in the back of a truck. "Klaus," she said as she shook him awake, her face pale as a sheet. "Klaus, wake up!"

"Five more minutes…"

"Wake up!" she slapped his arm, hard. "Something's wrong. Kol's no longer close."

"What! I wanted to release our siblings from their slumber today!" They quickly got dressed, and Klaus took her to the storage containers where he was keeping the coffins. "Rebekah, where are you? Pick up the phone, darling, daddy's dead. It's time for a family reunion," he said as he left his sister a voicemail. Upon hanging up, his phone rang again. "Stefan! Miss me already?"

Myriam didn't have to strain to hear Stefan's voice. _"I'm just calling to thank you for my freedom."_

"I like to believe that I'm a man of my word. More or less," Klaus said as they passed a few containers.

 _"The thing is, it came at too high of a price. You took everything from me, Klaus."_ Myriam had a funny feeling that Stefan had something to do with taking Kol, and that the reason why she couldn't communicate well with that demon she'd put on him was Katerina. Katerina and Stefan.

"Let bygones be bygones. Trust me, resentment gets old."

 _"You know what never gets old? Revenge."_

Klaus opened the container, revealing an empty space. "No!"

"What the ever loving fuck, Stefan?!" Myriam screeched upon seeing the empty space. She could feel it lingering with the spirit of Kol, Elijah and the others, so they were there, but now they were not.

 _"Ah, what's the matter? Missing something?"_ Stefan asked lightly.

"What are you doing?"

 _"I'm just enjoying my freedom."_

"I will kill you and everyone you have ever met," Klaus threatened.

 _"You do that, and you will never see your family again,"_ Stefan said calmly. _"I wonder, Klaus, for someone who's been a step ahead of everyone for 1000 years, were you prepared for this?"_

Klaus hung up the phone and fought himself from throwing it against the container. "He took my family!"

Myriam growled. "He took my best friend! Don't worry, mon Loulou, I will get them back for us. I promise."

"He just said-"

"He said that if you'd kill everyone, you'd never see your family again. He never mentioned me," Myriam replied angrily. "Yet another man who's forgetting about my existence!"


	17. Chapter 17

Myriam lead Klaus to Mason in the basement - again, Myriam hadn't bothered to feed the wolf or bring him anything to drink, but it would give Klaus something to do while she went on the hunt for Stefan and the coffins. Because Katerina was involved, she couldn't entirely rely on her demons, but she had a feeling that Stefan was closer to home than she was made to believe.

She followed Damon into the Grill where he compelled the female bartender to put all the alcohol bottles on the bar so he could get day drunk. It was still quiet in the Grill, and after his fifth shot, Myriam ran up to him and smacked his head on the bar.

"Ouch!" Damon whined as he looked at Myriam. "Why did you do that for?"

She smacked his head on the bar again before snapping his neck and hauling him off to the alley behind the Grill. While he was unconscious, she found sharp objects lying around and pushed them inside of his body.

"What are you doing?" Damon groaned as he finally came to.

"Stefan doesn't want Klaus to do anything against those he loves, but never said anything about me."

Damon let out another groan before he started pulling the tiny pieces of glass and debris out of his body as he sat up. "What did that idiot do now?"

Myriam put her foot on his torso and pushed him back down. "You see, I don't care about Klaus' mission to create an army of hybrids, because, in the end, I know that it'll go pear-shaped like any other grandiose plan he's had in the past. And I get it that Stefan wants his revenge for what Klaus did to him, but you know… I don't care. He kidnapped four bodies. I don't care about three of them, but one of them is my best friend."

"You have best friends?"

She put some more pressure on his torso. "Where is Stefan?"

"I don't know! I don't care! He betrayed us! We were supposed to kill Klaus, not save him!" Damon whined. "Just kill me already, why won't you? You're on team Klaus anyway."

"And so what? He's not evil or the bad guy, I mean, Mikael, now he was the big bad, but Klaus? He only wants what is owed to him. If you flip it around, Stefan's the bad guy and so are you. No, even better… Elena is the bad one here."

"What! No, Elena isn't the bad one, she's a victim."

"Because you and Stefan put her in that role. She's not a victim. She's a manipulative bitch. You'd do anything for her, even kill people who don't deserve to die. Then there's Bonnie… now well, she needs to sort out her alignment. What kind of witch is she? One that helps vampires or one that hates them?"

Damon growled as he grabbed Myriam's leg, snapped it and pushed her off of him, forcing her to the ground as he got to his feet. "You've been sipping the wrong kool-aid, sister."

"I am not your sister," she replied as she threw him off of her, snapped her leg back in place and pushed him against the wall, grabbing the nearest loose pole and impaled him on it. "Where is Stefan?"

"I don't know!" Damon said again. "Leave me alone!"

"Yeah, good idea. I think Elena's next on my list…"

"You leave her alone!"

"Ha. You can't tell me what to do," Myriam countered. "Tell Ric I said hi."

"Myriam, if there's any shred of decency left inside of you, you're going to leave Elena alone," Damon groaned as he tried to get off the pole he was impaled on.

She seemed to think for a moment and shrugged. "Very well," she replied before running off. It was a good thing that Klaus had told Tyler to get all buddy-buddy with Jeremy Gilbert before he ran from Mikael, meaning that Jeremy was now off of vervain. She found him and Tyler shooting beer cans in the woods. "Hi, guys."

"What are you doing here?" Jeremy said as he pointed the crossbow at Myriam.

Myriam laughed as she shook her head and used her speed to knock the crossbow out of his hands. "It's a good thing you're actually trying to protect yourself and your family, Jeremy. At least you're not the useless Gilbert, you have brains!" She said as she rubbed her knuckles on his head. She then looked at Tyler. "How's it going, Tyler? Is he clean?"

Tyler nodded slowly. "Just like Klaus wanted him to be."

"Well, good thing I'm doing this for Klaus then," Myriam smiled at him before looking at Jeremy. "Let's have a chat, Jer. When you go home for lunch today, you're going to leave your beautiful ring on the dining room table… no wait, you're going to take it upstairs and put it in Elena's drawer where she keeps her underwear," she smiled at him. "Then, you're going to go to the bathroom and drink some soapy water before you're going to eat a nice sandwich and head back out with Tyler because you two are best buds, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"And on your way home for dinner, you're going to walk in front of a speeding car in your street. Make sure Elena and Alaric are watching."

"But I'll die."

"Likely. But that's okay buddy, you'll die for the greater good," she smiled at him, ruffling his hair. "Now, do you understand what you have to do?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now forget that I was ever here."

While Myriam was on her way back to town, she was wondering what else she could do to make sure that Stefan would know that she was on a warpath. Oh, maybe she could start a fire at the Salvatore house?

She checked in in the Grill where Damon and Alaric were drinking. Well, Damon was continuing his drinking while Alaric was grading papers. It was quite busy in the grill, and Myriam decided to have a little bit of fun while Damon and Alaric still hadn't noticed her. One by one, she compelled the patrons to go up to Damon and drive their knives into his body. Any part. Didn't they have knives? They were to break their glass and hurt him with it. Of course, they wouldn't remember a thing and wouldn't remember it happening in the first place.

"Would you stop it!" Damon had finally spotted Myriam sitting in the farthest corner of the Grill. Of course, as a former employee, she knew the best spots to hide.

Alaric looked over his shoulder and shook his head laughing. "All this because of Stefan?" Damon had told him about his encounter when he came to the bar to grade papers and wait for Jeremy.

"Well yes, supposedly Stefan took her bestie," Damon winced when someone drove a knife in his back, and he mixed himself a margarita instead.

"I thought he took Klaus' family?"

"Well yeah, apparently she's really close with one of them."

"And she's taking this out on you because?"

"She thinks I know where Stefan is," Damon winced when Alaric finally pulled the knife out of his back. "I don't, but she doesn't listen. I swear, she's worse than Klaus!"

"What does Klaus have to say about Myriam's behavior?"

"I wouldn't know, would I? It's not like he and I are the best of pals!" Damon growled as he turned around to look at Myriam. "But I'd sure love to know his opinion about his abusive wife."

"He'd be so turned on right now," Myriam smirked after the last compelled person took a seat back into their chair and walked over to Damon and Alaric. "I can keep that up all day if I have to, Damon. I might even risk Klaus' ire and go after Elena. No more hybrids."

"I told you not to!"

"Then go and find me Stefan and where he's keeping the damn coffins!" Myriam slammed his head against the bar for the last time before she drove a knife through Alaric, practically ripping him in half. He was wearing his ring anyway.

"Myriam!"

"I'll keep on doing that until you find me Stefan," Myriam said plainly. "You get two hours. Then I'll come and find you again. Right now I'm hungry." She went straight home where she found a dead-ish Mason on the expensive rug in the living room. "Did you have to make him bleed like that? It's difficult to get those stains out!"

"We'll buy a new rug. How's the hunt for our family going?"

"Oh, I've set things in motion…" Myriam said as she ungraciously allowed herself to fall onto the couch. "Damon saw a naughty side of me."

"Oh?" Klaus was intrigued. "Please, tell me everything!" After she was finished telling him, Klaus was all over her, kissing her neck, nibbling her ear, his hands under her clothes, causing Myriam to laugh. "What?"

"Damon asked me what you thought of me doing what I did, and I told him you'd be aroused."

"Oh, more than that, love," he whispered in her ear. "I'm going to devour you."

"Next to a werewolf who'll soon wake up in transition."

"We've had a worse crowd than one dead wolf."

"True."

~o.O.o~

Myriam followed Elena and Damon to the old Witches' place, overhearing them talk about Bonnie hiding the coffins and Stefan being inside. And so were the coffins. Well, now was a good time as any to try her 'appear human' talisman on a bunch of dead witches all at once, because she saw that the witches didn't particularly like Damon and his ring wasn't working inside the house.

Unfortunately, the witches were stronger than her talisman was and she, too, was affected by the witches messing with her daylight ring. "Oh for fuck's sake!" Myriam breezed as she looked at Damon. "They're here, aren't they?"

"I don't know! I know that Stefan is!"

"Oh, he's in there alright. And hiding the coffins," she snapped Damon's neck and grabbed her phone. "Do you want to hear the bad news or good news?"

" _Did you find them?"_

"Of course, _mon Loulou_. I found them. The bad news is that they're protected by a hundred dead witches, and I can't get in to verify that they're actually there," she replied. "I think I'm going to light a pretty fire."

" _Shall I instruct Tyler to bite Caroline as a distraction?"_

"I doubt that will work, he loves Caroline. It may be the one thing he wouldn't do for you."

" _Can I try?"_

"No!" Myriam shot at him. "Don't you even try doing something because Stefan might dump Kol in the ocean and sorry Klaus, I love you, but I will not allow my best friend to get lost forever."

" _Ah, well, that's my mistake then. The Founders Council are having a fundraiser tomorrow, and I thought I'd bring you along as my date. Perhaps we can convince that everyone's lives will be better, protected, once Stefan returns my family."_

"Klaus. I'm handling it."

Klaus sighed dramatically. " _Very well, I'll take one of my hybrids as my date. Would you mind if I gave them all a room in our home?"_

"It's my house, Klaus. You're living in it because you're mine. Your hybrids can stay in the yard in their dog houses."

" _There's an abandoned home next door, I think I'll give my hybrids something to do."_

"You do that."

" _And I will instruct Tyler to bite Caroline. He can't refuse me."_

"Klaus!"

" _You have to allow me some fun, love, it's not fair you're getting all the fun."_

"This isn't fun!"

" _Please?"_

Myriam sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "Fine. Have Tyler bite Caroline. It's her birthday tomorrow anyway. Just… just don't go to her place when she's all delusional and stuff and be all nice to her. I know you love your blondes. It's your weakness."

" _Are you jealous?"_

"No. I hate the bitch," Myriam stomped off after kicking Damon's limp body and headed towards the nearest gas station. "So, are the coffins fireproof?"

" _Of course not! Mother's might be because of the spell that's on it, but the others will burn and-"_

"Will the daggers burn?"

" _Please don't set fire to the witches house. We know where they are now, I'll make sure they'll return safely. I'll take it from here."_

"Klaus!"

" _Myriam, I mean it. Don't make me come and get you."_

"And then what? You'll spank me?"

" _Stop it. Come home."_

Myriam scowled as she hung up and ran into the building, straight to the basement to find a place without sunlight. "Fucker!"

"Ah, I was wondering who was going to show up first. You or Damon," Stefan said with a small smile on his face. "I'm a bit surprised that it's you."

"You can keep the coffins. I only want one," Myriam took a few deep breaths as she made herself small to stay out of the sun. "Please, Stefan. I just want my best friend back."

Stefan scoffed. "If they're your best friend, why are they in a coffin?"

"Long story," Myriam shook her head. "I know they're here. I can feel his essence. Please, you owe me this."

"I owe you nothing, Myriam. You're not getting one coffin until Klaus, and his hybrids leave town," Stefan replied as he pulled her out of her hiding spot, causing her to burn. "See ya. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

She narrowed her eyes at him and ran out, straight for the Salvatore boarding house before she realised that she couldn't enter anymore. Letting out a cry of frustration, she went home. "Don't talk to me," she shot at Klaus as she walked up the stairs to her room. "You can have your fun now."

"You promise?"

"Shut up!"

~o.O.o~

Myriam smiled from ear to ear when Klaus' hybrid started to roll the coffins into her home. She had cleared out the dining room for them for storage, and she couldn't wait to wake Kol. Granted, Klaus had to go through a lot to get them back, even risking losing his precious Doppelganger, but she had her best friend back.

However, before she could do anything, Elijah appeared and extracted the hybrid's heart. "Now, what did I miss?" He asked while he cleaned his hands with his handkerchief and looked at Klaus' dumbfounded face. "You look surprised to see me. So it wasn't you who removed the dagger from my chest."

Klaus composed himself quickly. "You look like you could do with a drink, and we have a lot to discuss, so shall we?"

It was then when Elijah started to attack Klaus and Myriam watched as the parlour was being smashed to smithereens. Her french doors. Her beautiful table. "Take this outside!" Myriam called from the dining room, not wanting to interfere with the two brothers. "You're ruining my home!"

"Stay out of this," Elijah told Myriam before Klaus threw him through another table.

"Enough!"

"You have every right to be right at me, Elijah," Klaus barked. "But I kept my word," he said as he moved between Myriam and his brother. "I reunited you with our family."

Elijah didn't pull his punches when attacking Klaus again, and Myriam rolled her eyes as she stepped aside, and Klaus fell onto Kol's coffin. She watched with fascination as he opened the coffin and pulled out the dagger, threatening Elijah with daggering him again. Elijah was daring him to do it again as she walked around the coffin to stand behind Klaus and wait for her best friend to get back in his feet. She'd take him out for a snack when he did.

"I dare you, use it. You'll have Kol to deal with."

Klaus lowered the dagger. "Mikael is dead."

"What did you say?"

"I killed him, with his own weapon. He's gone, Elijah. Forever."

"Why does our family remain in these coffins? Finn for over 900 years, Kol for over a century?"

"Because of Stefan Salvatore," Klaus replied, anger in his voice. "He holds the one thing keeping me from freeing him. There are things you do not know about our past, our mother's death, things I never wanted you to know. But I'm ready to tell you now." He then walked to the jar that held the ashes of the white oak tree. "I only wish you remember your oath of loyalty to me."

"Klaus, don't," Myriam said as she realised what she was going to do and tried to block him from daggering Kol again. "Come on, he doesn't deserve to be down this long. I'll take care of him. Please."

"You said that the last time and he plotted against me. Before that, you weren't even there, so that doesn't count, but before that, he set fire you your beloved club, remember that, love? You think you have some control over him, but you don't."

"Because I'm not controlling! I'm his friend!" She pushed Klaus away from Kol. "Don't do this to him, Klaus. He doesn't deserve to stay down."

"Elijah and I have a lot of catching up to do. I promise you, love, once everything settles down, I'll undagger Kol."

"You say that all the time!" Klaus pushed past her and pushed the dagger back inside Kol. "Cochon!" Myriam slapped him and ran out of the house to the Salvatore Boarding House. Knowing that she couldn't enter, she sat down on the steps, sulking.

She waited for hours, and then Damon arrived home first. She was glad it was Damon, he was more agreeable than Stefan. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be cosying it up with your husband?"

"I would be if you hadn't undaggerd his brother," she said as she got to her feet and leaned against one of the pillars. "Why?"

"To talk some sense into him!"

"And?"

"Like I'm going to tell you. You're on team Klaus," Damon huffed. "Besides, you hurt me, Myriam. Me. You're not supposed to do that because you're supposed to be the nice one!"

Myriam shrugged. "Anyway, you need to call Elena to invite me inside."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because you undaggered Elijah and thus you upset the balance between Klaus and I. So I'll be bunking with you."

"Yeah, no way in hell, Myriam. Get lost."

"You want to know what's in the fourth coffin?" She asked as she approached him. "Is that why you have Bonnie and her mother down in the cave right now with the coffin? No vampire can enter because it's protected, isn't it?"

"We'll figure it out. Don't need you for that."

"Oh come on, Damon, I don't want to be at my house right now. Please?"

"Nope."

Myriam let out a long sigh as she grabbed her phone out of her pocket and fake dialled a number before putting a hand on Damon's chest, looking up at him through her lashes. "Hi love, I'm just calling you to inform you that Damon and I are going to rent a motel room and have sex. We both have some anger issues to- Oh. You don't like that, huh? I don't care."

Damon put his hand on her mouth. "Fine!"

"Thank you, love," she smiled as she 'disconnected' the call.

"Are you insane! He'd rip me apart!"

"That's the point. Call Elena?"

~o.O.o~

It was a good thing that the coffins were now in her home. Whatever Bonnie and the witches did to hide them in the first place had been lifted, and she could now interact with Kol's demon again. While Stefan and Damon were enjoying dinner with Klaus and Elijah, Myriam stayed at the Salvatore House watching some dumb sitcom on television with a very expensive bottle of wine.

It was when Kol's demon alerted her that he'd been awakened, she hurried home. She was surprised to see that everyone was on their feet, even Finn, the brother she hadn't met yet, and the Original Witch. Klaus' mother. The wicked witch from the West. She'd never felt good about Finn's coffin nor Esther's coffin and to have them both out meant that there was trouble on the rise.

However, they were all quietly enjoying something to eat and to drink, and Myriam just stood there, watching. They didn't even notice her, apart from Kol. Who, eventually noticed her and rose with a big, goofy grin on his face. "I was wondering where you were," he said as he walked towards her to hug her tightly. "I've missed you! Oh, thank you so much for the company, it made it a lot more bearable this time round."

Myriam let out a sigh of relief as she hugged him back, happy to feel him in her arms again. "I tried, you know… he wouldn't let me."

"I know you tried, my friend told me," he smiled widely at her.

"Oh, that's just rich," Finn rolled his eyes. "A vampire groupie? When did you pick her up, Kol? I can't believe she stuck around for this long to wait for your return."

Myriam could feel Kol stiffen in her arms and she smiled at him. "Breathe," she told him before looking at Finn. "1698 is when we met," she told Finn. "He kidnapped me."

"Now now, darling, you kidnapped me first," he chided her playfully. "Disturbing me in my feed."

"Rescuing an innocent young woman," she said at the same time.

"She was a very gifted witch," Kol nodded and saw his brother roll his eyes at him. "Honestly! We became the best of mates, and then Nik daggered me a few years later, and when I woke up again, she and him got married."

"What!" Finn said shocked before looking at his mother who had an incredulous look on her face before looking at his other brother. "Tell me he's joking."

"He's not," Myriam replied as she pulled Kol along with her to Klaus and nestled in Klaus' lap, still holding Kol's hand, not willing to let him go just yet. She loved him being back. "I've been Klaus' wife for over 300 years. I'm sure we have our marriage certificate somewhere still?"

Klaus looked over to Elijah. "Do we?"

"Of course, and if not, there are still old records in France where you two got married, if mother and our brother really wanted to see the evidence."

Myriam knew that Finn had a healthy dose of self-loathing and hated to be a vampire, thinking that they were incapable of any sense of morality, humanity. "We wed when I was still human. Klaus turned me here, in the New World."

"What were you possibly thinking? Foolish girl!"

"Foolish or not, I love your brother, Finn. He's my husband. And your other brother is my best friend, so if you're going to hurt them, you will be sorry," she said, a tone of warning in her voice.

"You don't want to make her mad," Kol grinned. "Isn't this lovely, Mother? The whole family complete, including a daughter in law. Just like you wanted. Us to be a family again!"

Myriam's demons alerted her that Esther was quietly magically poking around to see if Myriam was genuine, but her demons made sure to deflect any assault. She smiled at Esther then. "If you'd like to know something, Mrs Mikaelson, I'd respectfully want to ask you to use your words, not your magic."

"What are you?" She asked curiously.

"I'm a very breakable vampire in my own house surrounded by a bunch of powerful Original vampires. I suppose that makes me either very stupid or very brave," Myriam replied with a shrug. "I still have some protection measures left from when I was a witch."

"Your house?" Elijah blinked. "But Niklaus said-"

"It's our house. But I built it 150 years ago. It's mine. I used my own funds for this. It's my house. You're all my guests, and please stop smashing things when you're angry."

"Well then, does that mean I'd need your permission to host a ball tomorrow night in honour of our family's reunion?" Esther asked Myriam.

"You do," she nodded before looking at Klaus. "What do you think?"

"What mother wants, mother gets."

"I suppose we're throwing a party tomorrow night then," Myriam smiled and softly kissed him before finally letting go of Kol and got off of Klaus' lap. "Now, if you'd excuse me, it's time for me to retreat. Have a good night." Myriam went upstairs to her room and opened her drawer filled with Dark Objects. She needed to protect her room. She had removed all safety from the house once Klaus had returned to her, with his army in tow, but she didn't and couldn't trust Esther. At least her and Klaus' bedroom was going to be a safe one. And Kol's and Rebekah's. She didn't care much for the others.

This ball was going to be interesting. She had every available demon spying on Esther now, she was likely planning something, and Myriam didn't like that. At all.


	18. Chapter 18

"Oh, look at you," Myriam smiled at Kol as she straightened his collar. "A nice haircut, a nice shave… and oh so handsome."

Kol smiled at her. "Careful now, you might regret marrying Niklaus."

"Oh, never! I can't wait to see him in a suit, it's been far too long," Myriam sighed as she picked a piece of lint off of his new suit. From her side, she could see Finn rolling his eyes as he was fitted for his own suit. He definitely didn't approve of her. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Who cares?" Rebekah sighed as she watched the compelled servant polish her nails. "It's nice and quiet like this."

"Rebekah, tell me how handsome I am," Kol smiled proudly at her.

"Ah Kol, unlike your and Nik's little pet, I can't be compelled."

"I can't be compelled, and they would think twice of doing so," Myriam said as she kissed Kol's cheek. "Your date will be a lucky girl, Kol."

The door opened and Klaus walked in, anger written all over him and rolling off of him as well. "You went after Elena?" He demanded as he looked at Rebekah. Elijah was looking up from polishing his shoes with an entertained smile on his face. "What is wrong with you?"

"Here we go," Rebekah smiled at him, showing no fear at all.

"Do you want another dagger in your heart?"

"Enough with the daggers!" Myriam tiredly pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Again with the dagger threats?" Kol said at the same time. "Don't you have any other tricks?"

"Oh go back to staring at yourself," Klaus shot at him.

"And who are you, my father?"

"Stop it," Myriam sighed. "I want to keep my house in one piece, thank you very much."

"Then perhaps Nik and I should take this outside," Kol said as he sized up his brother.

"Enough!" Esther demanded as she walked into the room. She then folded her hands in front of her and beckoned for Klaus to follow her. Like a puppy.

Oh, Myriam knew that she wouldn't be able to do anything with the Mikaelson's love for their mother, they'd tell her she was crazy if Myriam would tell them that Esther's up to something. All she could do was to protect her husband and her best friend at all costs. And maybe Rebekah. But Elijah and Finn could go to hell for all she cared. It sucked that Esther was using something against intrusion, deflecting Myriam's demons and spirits, so she couldn't find out what Esther was up to the usual way.

Myriam felt as if she was stuck. She had lost her friends or at least those she deemed to be friendly, because of her allegiance to Klaus. It made it easier to hurt her former friends, but she didn't have anyone friendly anymore. For this, she was glad that Kol was out of his box, but there was no doubt in her mind that Klaus was going to use him as his attack dog.

Her husband was more busy with pleasing his mother and making sure his siblings were settling. Not to mention his hybrids. She was considering moving back to New Orleans. On her own, and feel at home again. Because while Mystic Falls had been her home away from home, it didn't feel like that anymore.

"What's on your pretty little mind, darling?" Kol put an arm around her and lead her out of the room. "Aren't you happy for us that we have our family back?"

Myriam could hear the hint of annoyance in Kol's voice. "Let me guess, you'd rather have your mother still in her coffin and Finn at the bottom of the ocean."

"Finn, yes. But mother…" Kol sighed as he shook his head. "I can't believe it was Nik who killed her and not our father."

"Try putting yourself in Klaus' shoes. What would you do if you were half and half and your mother bound the part of you that she didn't like to please her husband?"

Kol sat down on one of the settees and pulled Myriam down with him, careful not to crease his new suit. "Likely the same. But now you're talking about me again. Tell me what's on your mind."

Myriam looked around before getting up and pulling Kol upstairs with her, to her room where things were quiet, and nobody could listen in. She poured the both of them a hefty glass of bourbon, and she decided to tell him everything. How she felt, what she'd done, what happened since he was last daggered. How she felt stuck. Alone. "Granted, it's Klaus we're talking about, but I have more needs than just being here for the sex."

"You sound like you could use some fun," Kol said as he refilled their drinks. "How about you introduce me to your friends, and I'll beat them up for you?"

"That's fun for you!"

"Well, you can help, darling," Kol smirked. "And tomorrow, we'll dance. I'll have Klaus do the waltz with you, but I'll be yours for the rest of the night unless Rebekah needs me for something."

"When Rebekah needs something it usually means trouble," Myriam let out a soft chuckle. "Can I be your partner in crime?"

"Of course! I wouldn't have it any other way!" Kol kissed her cheek. "Now, let me get out of this monkey suit, and you can show me around in town."

Myriam showed him around in Mystic Falls, carefully avoiding the Scoobies as she told him about all the good things that this town had to offer. However, on their way back home, Damon popped up in front of her. "Who's your date?"

"Go away, Damon," Myriam sighed. "You're ruining an afternoon of fun."

"Good, because don't think that I'll ever forget what you did to me."

"What did you do, darling?" Kol asked curiously. "Did it involve sharp or blunt objects?" He remembered her telling him about Damon. This used to be a friend of hers.

"Yeah, to get you guys back," she smiled at him. "Damon didn't like that very much."

"It was unnecessary!" Damon shot at her. "And who is this anyway? Doesn't look like much, does he?"

Myriam sucked in a breath as she took a step back as Kol took a step forward. "Myriam is someone who deserves to be adored, to be listened to and, in a way, to be feared."

Damon stared back at the vampire, confused for a moment as he glanced quickly at the smirking female. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Sure she's a bitch, but it's not like she's at the calibre of Klaus and Elijah where she can't be killed."

Kol shrugged with a smile. "Perhaps not, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have her ways of defending herself, mate. I'm sure the saying still goes. Happy wife, happy life? My brother still hasn't quite learned it, but he will properly in time just what he has."

"Still, what has that to do with me? She's not my wife. Brother? You're a Mikaelson?"

"Of course! Who the hell do you think introduced the lovely couple," he replied with a sour face.

Myriam grinned. "Damon, this is my best friend. The one your brother stole."

"I thought girls only had girl best friends?" Damon blinked.

"Not when this girl does what she does," Kol muttered. "You wonder why she's with my brother? She can be every bit as evil as he is when she puts her mind to it."

"Klaus isn't evil. He's determined, and he's right, we can't help it that this world is filled with special snowflakes."

"He kept me boxed! And you helped him!" he exclaimed.

"Once! Because you burned down my business!"

Kol huffed and rolled his eyes. "It was an accident! And I apologised!"

"And I'm always doing everything in my power to keep you out of the box but seeing as I'm fragile as fuck, I'm not going ten rounds with Klaus or Elijah when they dagger you! Instead, I give you a friend!"

He waved off her concern. "Klaus won't lay a finger on you. I can't say the same for Elijah, but Klaus would go fight to the death with our father if it meant protecting you," he replied, completely unperturbed.

"And what about your mother? Would he fight her for me, too?"

His eyebrow raised. "Well, that is an intriguing question. Perhaps we should take this elsewhere, but first, your little pet needs to forget this whole conversation. He knows too much."

Myriam sighed and nodded. "He's on vervain though, just a second, let me see who's up for helping you out with that…" She said as she felt around in her pockets for some of her tiny trinkets she had attached a demon to. She picked the strongest essence and had it latch on to Damon. "Give it a moment, please, vervain sucks, but he can separate it from Damon's blood."

"Ah!" Damon started to claw at his arms and legs and torso. "What the hell is this?!"

"Ah, you've had a demon on you before, right, Damon? Just a non-intrusive one!" Myriam cooed as she remained alert on the demon's progress. "This one is a little different, I save him for the special occasions. Like this one."

"Honored, now make it stop," Damon groaned.

"Almost there," she smiled. "Isn't this fun, Kol?"

Kol sighed dramatically. "Truthfully, I miss the times where you could just set things on fire."

"You're not going to kill him," Myriam told him. "He may think that I'm the worst for being loyal to Klaus and that I have different beliefs than him, but he doesn't deserve to be killed. His brother, however, is a completely different story."

"Ah yes, you told me about him. I can't wait to meet him, darling, now, can I compel him so we can continue our conversation without him being present?" When Myriam nodded, Kol took another step towards Damon. "You will forget we've met, you won't remember the conversation we had with and about you. And for God's sake, be nice to Myriam. Just because she's siding with Klaus doesn't mean that she has changed."

"Kol, it's okay."

"No, it's not okay," Kol told her before focusing back on Damon. "While I'm at it, is there anything you feel the need to confess, Damon?"

Damon's eyes grew wide before shifting them between Myriam and Kol. "Back in 1864 I used to have a huge crush on Myriam."

"I don't need to know this," Myriam shook her head. "Klaus will kill him for this."

"It'll be our little secret," Kol winked at her. "Now, Damon, off you pop, and remember, you've never seen us, and you've never heard our conversation."

"Got it," Damon said as he walked away.

"Is your little friend still on him?" Kol wondered after a few minutes.

"Yeah, just to make sure he gets home safely," Myriam said as she looped her arm through Kol's. "So. Klaus and your mother. Did you know that I can't use my demons to spy on her? It's freaking annoying."

Kol frowned as he thought about the conflict between the magic and the realm that Myriam operated in. "To be honest, I have noticed Elijah eyeing Mother suspiciously since her return. I think he actually shares the same concerns you do, which is in itself a shock."

"Ugh, I don't even want to go there, but no, something just feels off. She feels fake."

"As mother said, she had a 1000 years on The Other Side to forgive and to heal, mother always wanted what was best for us, although… she did feel like she made a mistake after we started to eat people.'

"Kol, your brother killed her," Myriam pointed out. "That's not something you can forgive. Not even over a thousand years. Revenge, sure. And when you have not only a Bennett witch and the doppelganger together on the same land it all happened? It's a recipe for a huge fucking spell."

"That is true, but what if she truly wants what's best for us, Myriam?"

"What's best for the family and for the world is that you're all dead," Myriam said coldly. "I mean, if I'd fuck up like this and create monsters who feed on blood, I'd try to rectify that myself."

"What?!"

"Not that I hate being a vampire or that I want you and Klaus dead, but from a very liberal point of view? Yeah, I can see your mother doing that. She'd likely only need the Doppelganger's blood to help with the spell."

Kol sighed and nodded. "I don't want to see my mother as yet another person fed up with our family. We've technically done nothing wrong, it's merely that everyone else thinks we did so we're evil."

"Well, you're mean. Not evil," she said playfully. "But I think she's up to something, that's all. So I hope you don't mind that I'm putting a strong demon on you to protect you. And I'll do the same for Klaus. One that can take you over when needed."

"I don't like that idea."

"Well tough. Klaus' demon lead him straight to me after I was mauled by the wolves in New Orleans. It works, and it's my only way of protecting you."

"We don't need your-"

"Shut up and humour me."

"Alright darling," Kol smiled as they walked onto the driveway to their house. "I do love how you set this place up. There's room for everyone."

Myriam sighed. "I hadn't planned on the entire family. I wanted it to be for you, Klaus and me. Perhaps Rebekah, but the rest of the rooms? I wanted an art studio for Klaus. Or a library. A calm place for me to do my thing. Stables."

"Build another house."

"I might," she smiled at him. "Now go and hang with your siblings. Thank you for a great time this afternoon, I'm feeling a lot better."

"Good! That means my job is done."

~o.O.o~

Myriam felt like a gothic princess in her black and red dress with a sweetheart cut. She loved the feel of the fabric over her skin, it was so tight, but it looked so good on her. The sweep train made it a little bit difficult for her to walk around with but she didn't care. She looked beautiful and genuinely hoped Klaus would notice. If not, then he wouldn't. He didn't see a lot of things lately.

She joined Kol as he mingled with the rest of the guests. "Now, look at you, darling, you clean up so nicely," he smiled at her. "You are gorgeous."

"You're not so bad looking yourself," she beamed at him. "Where's Klaus?"

"Who cares? Oh, I see Damon, let's have a chat," he said as he gently took her arm. "Mayor Lockwood," he said as they walked towards Carol and Damon. "We haven't formally met," he said as he took her hand and kissed it. "Kol Mikaelson. I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it. Myriam here has been a great help so far."

"Damon Salvatore," Damon said as he stretched out his hand and eyed Myriam briefly before making eye contact with Kol again. "Have we met?"

For a moment there Myriam was afraid that it hadn't worked, the demon in him and compelling him. But Kol covered it up nicely. "I've met a lot of people," he shrugged. "And you don't particularly stand out," he said before gently guiding Myriam away from them.

After they were sure everyone was in, including Elena and fucking Caroline Forbes, Elijah gathered everyone on the stairs, and Myriam wasn't allowed. She had thrown a tantrum earlier that day because she was a part of the family whether Esther liked it or not. But no. It was just the mother and her children. Bitch. She'd wanted to rip her apart but hadn't done so because of Klaus. He blindingly adored his mother.

And Elijah's speech was boring. As always. After the speech, they all got ready for the dance, but Klaus spotted Caroline. And, of course, he went over to her. "Predictable pig," she muttered as she kept an eye on her husband and the harlot.

"Caroline," he said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? You invited me!" Caroline countered. "I'm surprised you did, seeing as you're married to Myriam and all, but here I am."

"Sorry love, but I didn't invite you."

"You didn't? And you didn't send me this dress? Or gave me this bracelet?"

"Ah, my apologies, love," he shook his head. "But while you're here, do enjoy the party. Your friends are here too," he smiled at her. Klaus took her gloved hand and kissed it before the sound of glass breaking could be heard. He looked up only to see Myriam's retreating back as she walked outside.

She'd wanted to attend the dance, but she was so furious. He didn't give her the light of day and yet spoke to Caroline? Not wanting to cause a scene, she went outside instead. Oh, she shouldn't let a teenager like Caroline get to her like that, but it had been building up, and while she and Kol had fun the day before, it had only been a slight distraction. No, she and Klaus needed to deal with this. Now.

She wasn't sure what was worse, marrying him and waiting for nearly 30 years for them to have sex or him so ignorant of her needs? Hadn't she been doing everything for him? Made sure he had a home to come back to in Mystic Falls?

"Myriam?" Klaus asked carefully. "Are you alright, love?"

"Oh, don't you start!" Myriam fumed as she started to pace on the patio, lifting her skirt as she did. "Don't act all innocent! Use your bloody brain!"

"Sweetheart? What's going on?" He reached out to grab her, but she hit him in the chest, pushing him away from her.

"Before you broke the curse, we had a lot of fun. Since then, you're only focused on the doppelganger, the hybrids…"

"We talked about this."

"I am not done!" Myriam countered angrily. "Then it was Stefan who took the coffins. And now… Caroline! And you didn't even give me any affection in the meantime! It was angry sex. It was needy sex. But there wasn't any love!" She hit him in the chest again. "I'm your fucking wife. I've been your wife for 300 years, and I have done everything for you! I'm feeling like I'm merely existing to be ignored these days!"

"I didn't invite Caroline. Honestly."

"I don't fucking care! You treated her with more love than you've shown me ever since you returned! Kol has given me more attention than you, and he only got out of his box a few days ago!" She then took a deep breath and tried to compose herself but, rarely emotional, she could feel the tears prick behind her eyes. "I am your wife. I want to be loved, to be included. I'm so lonely, Klaus."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"I have been telling you! And you don't change! You haven't even told me that I look pretty tonight," she said disappointedly. "I understand that it's great to have your entire family back, but I'm your family, too."

He gently took her hands and pulled her closer to him. "Tonight is not the night to cause a scene, love," he said quietly.

"Why do you think I'm outside?"

"Come back inside with me, we'll talk about this later."

"No, we're going to talk about this now," she said as she pushed him away from her again. "Not later. Now. Because I've been thinking about going back to New Orleans and just let you live your life here."

"You wouldn't!"

"I don't want to, no, but I've been thinking about it. The urge got less after Kol's return," she admitted. "But while I've got you back, I've lost most of the people I had started to care for. Because of you. They think that I've changed. But I haven't. I just didn't have to get really angry with them before you came back, guess they don't like that. And all I have is you. And Kol. And you still haven't commented on my dress!"

"You do look ravishing," he nodded.

"Yeah, that didn't sound genuine," she shook her head. "Look, you need to start treating me as your wife again. It's not like I haven't given you enough space for you to realise that you're not treating me as your wife. I'm not going to wait another 25 years, Klaus."

"I promise, I'll do better," he pulled her back into his arms.

"I want the Klaus back before all this," she muttered into his embrace. "Is that too much to ask?"

"No, sweetheart, you're absolutely right," he softly kissed the top of her head. "I'll do better, I promise. You have my word. Now, would you please join me for a dance?"

"This isn't over."

"What else is there to discuss?"

"We'll discuss that later, I don't want to ruin your night."

"Myriam."

"Your mother."

"What about my mother?"

"I feel as if she's up to something."

"I know."

Myriam looked up at him in surprise. "You do?"

"Which is why I've been trying to get closer to her, but it's always her and Finn. The only time when I get some time alone with her is when I throw a tantrum," he replied, a sigh. "As much as I wish to believe that she's forgiven me for what I've done, I can't help but remember how she was the one who put the curse on me, and how she hated us after creating us. I was actually wondering if one of your pets might have picked up on something."

"No, she's shielded. Whatever she's doing in her room, they can't penetrate," she replied as she kept looking at him. "You knew? Why didn't you say something?"

"To protect you."

"Klaus."

"Honest," he laughed a little. "And I think she's the reason why Caroline is here. She wants to test our bond, Myriam. And I think that when we're not going inside for that dance, she'll think she's won."

"I need a drink before we dance," she rolled her eyes at him. "Just remember, I'm your wife."

After they showed unity with a few dances, Myriam went to get a few drinks and saw Rebekah and Kol scheming. As expected. She was going to stay out of it, whatever it was, someone was going to get hurt. After her third drink, she went back to Klaus, linking her arm through his as he mingled with the guests.

"Myriam! Why haven't you attended any more of the council meetings?" Mayor Lockwood asked.

"Ah, well, uhm… with the agreement that you and Klaus have in place, I don't think that the council need me anymore? Unless… you're reconsidering the deal?"

"No, of course not, I mean…"

"You only wanted me around for my knowledge about herbs. Wolfsbane and vervain, right? Didn't I provide you with enough knowledge?"

"Yes…"

"Madame Mayor, I think what Myriam is trying to say is that you and I have a deal, a good one for Mystic Falls. There's no need for her further involvement," Klaus smiled, knowing how much Myriam hated the council and for roping her in. "Of course, should you require her assistance, she'd be more than willing to help. But I assure you, she wishes to keep Mystic Falls as safe as we do. She has been, after all, been a part of your town for a long time."

"Of course. I-I'm sorry I asked."

Myriam watched as Elena went upstairs with Finn to see Esther and attached a tiny demon to Elena to spy, to attempt to anyway, because everything Myriam had tried so far, had gone down poorly. At least Klaus and Kol were well protected with two of her strongest demons on them. Just like the one she had put on Klaus when they were separated and who had physically directed Klaus to her when she was dying.

Even if the demon wouldn't be able to communicate with Myriam immediately, she was sure that it would be able to relay everything to her once Elena would get out of that room.

"What are you up to?" Klaus wondered as he lead Myriam back towards the bar.

"I was thinking of buying a little cactus in a cute little pot and to name it after you because you're a prick."

"I thought you forgave me!"

"I told you, this wasn't over. First, you need to prove yourself to me. And then, I might forgive you," she said simply as she took her glass of wine and downed it in one go. "One more dance?"


	19. Chapter 19

Her demon had been present but had been unable to relay any information about what had happened in the room with Elena and Esther. It wasn't until Elijah asked Elena about whether or not he should be concerned about his mother, that Myriam's demon could read Elena's thoughts and give Myriam the information she needed.

But it was already too late for Myriam to do something about it as the special champagne was already being passed along. "Don't drink it," she whispered to Klaus as she was standing next to him and told the demon in Kol to take over and not drink the champagne, either while Esther made her speech.

"Why?"

"Trust me."

"Myriam."

" _Mon LouLou_ , I'll tell you later," she sighed frustratedly. "Just don't drink it."

After the toast, Klaus gently guided Myriam outside where they pretended to look at the horses that were in front of the carriages. "Now, tell me what that was all about."

"Your mother isn't here for forgiveness or to be a family with you and the rest of the family, Klaus," Myriam replied softly as she gently ruffled the horse's mane. "Elena had willingly parted with some of her blood when she was with your mother so she could perform a spell to bind you all together as one."

"I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Bind you as in, if one of you dies, so do all of you, Klaus," she snarled. "I managed to save you and Kol from that, but to save the rest of your siblings will require some heavy duty magic."

"That's preposterous," Klaus huffed. "Mother said she'd forgiven me. And-"

"And here we go again," Myriam rolled her eyes.

"Alright, even if you were right…"

"I am!"

"Who's willing to die so eagerly?"

"Who do you think?" Myriam retorted. "It's not Elijah, not Rebekah and not Kol!"

"Finn. Of course," he growled. "What you're saying is that they're still linked together and risk of dying? Why would mother want to do this?"

"For the same reason she created your Father the way that he was; she still finds that turning you was a mistake, a blight, and she wants to set things straight. Make things right again," she looked at him. "She hasn't changed, Klaus. She never will. Like Mikael, she wants you, and your siblings, dead."

"I'm going to kill her!" Klaus growled. "Again!"

"Can't you at least wait until we've found a witch powerful enough to undo this so you can safely get rid of Finn, too?" Myriam asked as she pulled him back to her. "Granted, I don't like Elijah much, but you do need a dose of him in your life every once in a while. And Rebekah is fun to hang around with too when she's not being bitchy."

"And are you suggesting not to tell anyone either?"

"I think you should tell Elijah, Kol and Rebekah, but not Finn. And definitely not that I saved the both of you from being linked in that spell because then they'll start asking why they weren't saved. But not tonight. Tomorrow," she said as she softly kissed his lips. "And, speaking of leaving me out of things, I think it's best if I move back behind you, instead of right next to you."

Klaus blinked at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm afraid of your mother, Klaus. It's either me running away, which I'm not going to do, or take a few steps back and let you handle this shit. The chances of you surviving this is bigger than me surviving it."

He sighed and nodded. "But then I don't want to hear you yell at me for doing things differently."

"I won't, I'll be doing normal wifey stuff. Apart from cleaning. I might do some cooking when I feel like it," she smiled at him. "Because my husband will fix what his mother is doing to her children and will keep his wife safe from his mother, yes?"

"But you're not running?"

"No," she kissed him again. "I'm staying. I'm not able to do much against your mother, but you're less afraid of her than you were of Mikael. So, I'm staying. With you."

There was some commotion on the balcony above them, and it was Kol breaking Matt's hand. And then it was Kol flying off the balcony and Damon jumping after him. As Kol was lying on the ground, Myriam yelled for Damon to leave Kol alone, and Damon broke Kol's neck. Stefan came running out, and shortly everyone at the ball came outside too.

While everyone was just standing there and looked at Damon's retreating back, she pulled off her stiletto shoes and launched both of them at his back with such a speed that they got lodged into his back. "Asshole! You really had to go and spoil this evening, didn't you?"

"Oh no, this evening was long spoiled when Stefan snapped my neck so that Elena could go and talk with your mother-in-law, so yeah, don't mind me for taking my revenge!"

"On my best friend!"

"He was hurting Matt!"

"Who the fuck cares about the quarterback?!"

"Elena does!"

"Fuck Elena!"

"I'd love to!"

Myriam started to laugh then and pulled her shoes out of his back. "Don't you ever hurt my best friend out of frustration ever again, hear me?"

"He'll live," Damon muttered.

Her eyebrow arched as she dropped her arms to her side. "Perhaps. But will you, if you piss off the wrong person? Watch yourself, Damon. I can only protect you so far from my family, and I don't want to protect your brother at all. I want to kill him myself."

"Yeah well, feel free. Then maybe, maybe, the world will regain some common sense."

"So I can go and kill him right now?" She smiled widely. "Really? I can?"

"No! Of course not!" Damon countered annoyed. "This is just a spat between siblings, stay out of it."

"But nobody will stop me, you know. If I turn back and kill him… nobody will bat an eye except for maybe Elena and the blondie… oh, wait… I can kill her too!"

"Myriam!"

"What!"

"Since when are you so vengeful and ready to kill everyone?"

She sighed. "I always have been, Damon, I was merely careful about it and biting my tongue all the times I've been to Mystic Falls. If someone wrongs me, they usually end up dead. Not you, though. But I've always hated your brother for doing what he did. Forcing you to turn… Killing Zak… And Zach..."

"Zach was me, but Stefan set Zach up for that by locking me up and stuff. I had no reason to kill Zach, although he hated me. Loooooved Stefan because Stefan is the good one from both of us."

"Yeah right."

"You're not killing Stefan."

"We'll see," Myriam shrugged as she put her shoes back on and walked back to the party.

~o.O.o~

The next day Kol managed to drag Klaus away from the house to go and have some fun. Myriam still kept her demons on them, just in case, but she tried to relax and found that she couldn't do that in her own home because of Esther and Finn. Instead, she drove to Richmond and treated herself to some retail therapy and a mani and pedi. Because why not? She said she'd be more the wife instead of the protector, and this is what a wife did.

She didn't interfere in anything for days, not even when Meredith Fell drove a stake through Elijah's heart and causing nearly everyone to pass out. Almost everyone, because Klaus and Kol hadn't been linked. She didn't complain when Klaus sent Kol away to Denver, Colorado to make friends with Jeremy and she didn't mind. Jeremy was harmless, and she knew that Klaus needed leverage over Elena and the Scoobies at some point. Kol was the right person to do so.

At least Kol would be still alive and not boxed.

She was happily sipping a glass of wine while she was reading a book on the porch of her home. With Esther and Finn in the wind, her home felt like a home again, and she'd done an immediate cleansing of the house after they had failed to return. Myriam hadn't missed the sound of a car stopping in the driveway and two people getting out. "The Doppelganger and the Witch…" she said as she didn't look up from her book. "What can I do for you?"

"We need your help."

Myriam looked up then, in surprise. "My help? For what?"

"We're having a problem with… Alaric. Bonnie isn't confident that she can help him and the herbs that Meredith Fell gave him to suppress… don't work," Elena replied. "Alaric's in trouble."

"And I should care, why?"

"He's killing all the council members!"

"And?"

"It's Ric. We want Ric back."

Myriam sighed. "And why should I help you? I know that you're still planning on killing my family, one way or another."

"Because," Bonnie said simply. "With Alaric insane and on the loose, he'll be a danger to Elena as she's from the founding families. He'll also be a danger to you because your name is on that list too. Despite it being a fake name, he knows it's you."

"Again, Elena isn't my problem. And let him come. He's human. I'm a vampire. I'll kill him first," she replied. "Problem solved."

"You don't get it. Alaric is a vampire hunter. And now he's possessed by a killer. You won't hear him coming."

"When the fuck did that happen?" Myriam blinked. Insane was one thing, possessed another. "Who's possessing him?"

"We don't know. It's the darkness, likely from being killed too much and wearing the Gilbert ring," Elena said as she handed Myriam an old Gilbert journal. "It happened in 1912 too."

Myriam quickly read the diary and hummed. "Well, Samantha was just plain crazy from what I can tell, it wasn't the ring," she replied as she downed her glass and got to her feet. "Very well, take me to the patient. I'll see what I can find out about what's going on with him."

They brought her to the Salvatore house where Alaric was sitting on the sofa, a big flask of some herbal mixture sitting right next to him. "Right, Bonnie, thank you. You can go. Elena can stay if she so wishes."

"But…"

"Don't worry, I'll keep Elena and Alaric alive, that's a promise," Myriam smiled sweetly. "I believe you have a mother to attend to?"

Bonnie grumbled something before walking out. Myriam sat down next to Alaric on the couch and slapped his knee. "So, I hear you're being a dick, and they've been trying to fix you."

"I can't believe they thought you can help me," Alaric sighed as he relaxed into the couch. "I'm not in the mood for any jokes, Myriam."

"I might be your only chance, Ric," she said as she took his hand and took off the ring for her to fiddle with, for her demons and spirits to check it over. "So, how does this ring work? You die, you come back to life?"

"But every time you die, you end up further away from your body, so it takes a while to come back. And after you do, you don't remember what you've seen or experienced on the other side," Ric replied.

"So… for all you know someone's been messing with your soul on the other side, and you wouldn't know?"

"No, I- what? Is that even possible?"

Myriam shrugged. "A lot is possible with magic. It's how Esther came back, wasn't it? These rings were spelt by a Bennett witch to bring you back to life. Magic requires balance. Magic needs balance. Getting back to life after death could piss off the entire witch population on the other side."

"I hadn't even thought about that."

"Nobody likely thought about that," Myriam muttered as she started to get images from her demons about the ring, about Ric's state of mind, about everything concerning him. And Esther. Every time Ric died, Esther found him. And spoke about her hatred towards her children, vampires, and about killing them. That she had plans for him. The rest was the effect of the ring itself, but she had been polluting his soul. "Yeah, I can fix you," she eventually said with a nod. "Might take a few sessions, but I can fix you. I need to get a few things from my home, and then we can start, what do you say?"

"You're not a witch."

"No, but I am a Voodoo priestess, and I have more tricks on my sleeve, I don't need magic to fix you," she ruffled his hair as she looked at Elena. "I'm keeping the ring and don't you dare to refuse me."

"I'm not!" Elena said quickly. "You can have it, just please, fix him."

"Call your friend Caroline to keep an eye on him, I don't want you to be alone with Alaric for long, but I'll be back shortly, and then we can start," Myriam said as she got to her feet and pocketed the ring. She was a little bit rusty on her rituals and would need to call Isabella for some help in preparation.

Myriam didn't care for Alaric, but after realising that Esther was behind it, she was more than happy to one-up the bitch. And it wasn't as if she was busying herself with Klaus' affairs, this was a little project of her own, and it didn't have anything to do with the spell most of his siblings were affected by.

She returned an hour later, after having spoken to Isabella and gathered all the things she needed for the ritual she was going to perform on Alaric and cleared one of the rooms upstairs for her to do her work in. She drew some symbols on the floor and asked Alaric to lay down in the middle of it. Both Elena and Caroline were standing in the doorway, both having apprehensive looks on their faces.

"Oh don't worry, everything will be alright," Myriam assured them as she used her demons to keep Alaric pinned down to the floor and directed some demons inside of him while she chanted.

Everyone believed that possession was done by spirits or evil entities, and in a way, people were right. Some possessions were done by ghosts, but there were multiple layers of existence in the world. Different planes where demons and other creatures live. Alaric wasn't possessed. His subconscious had been manipulated on a different plane; the Other Side, and to fix that, she needed to draw strength from her demons to mend his soul back into one piece, and not fragmented and heightened as it was now.

While she was chanting, she smeared some oil over his body, burned a few herbs and walked around him, intensely watching how Alaric responded to her demons dealing with his fractured psyche. Her demons kept him on the ground, but he was screaming and trying to break free. Both Elena and Caroline were horrified by what they were seeing.

After thirty minutes, Alaric passed out, and Myriam kept going for another fifteen until she decided to take a small break. "Good news is, I think that it's working. Bad news? I'll have to continue in about an hour after a feed and some rest. Do you want me to continue this all night long or do you want me to come back a few times?"

"Whatever you feel is necessary, Myriam," Elena replied. "Is he okay?" she wanted to approach him, but Myriam stopped her.

"It's not a good thing to touch him now. Leave him be. He's alright, I promise," she said as she guided Elena and Caroline away from the door. "Go get some food, this is going to be a loooong night."

~o.O.o~

By morning, Stefan rushed in. "You need to stop what you're doing right now!"

"I'm almost done, relax," Myriam said with a shrug. "If I stop now, I'll have to do it all over again because his soul will fracture again, and trust me, I do not want to go through this again."

"You need to stop," Stefan grabbed her by her shoulders to make her look at him. "His evil alter ego is the only one who knows where he hid the White Oak Stake."

"Whi- what?" Myriam blinked. "What the hell have you guys been up to? Planning on killing some Originals? Where the fuck did you find White Oak? Didn't Rebekah burn it all?"

"She forgot the sign," Stefan shrugged. "But we need that stake so we can kill Klaus."

"No, you don't need that stake. Let it be lost forever for all I care. You're not going to kill Klaus! Finn died, I know that much. How is the rest of his line doing? Sage? Troy? They're dead, aren't they? Guess what happens when you kill my husband? You kill me, and I don't want to die, thank you very much."

"Tough. We handed over all of our stakes because Damon was being held by Rebekah."

"I don't care, I'm not stopping this ritual," Myriam angrily said as she broke Stefan's neck and threw him out of the room. Oh, she knew where Dark!Alaric had hidden the stake, and as soon as she was done, she was going to get it with the help of a compelled human and burn it. She had received the news from one of her demons that Finn was dead and her heart had rejoiced. To know that there was more White Oak around, though, was a problem.

She had finished the ritual by breakfast and made sure that her 'glue' was steadily in place. Alaric was going to be back to his usual self quite quickly, but he was going to have a hell of a hangover. And Myriam needed sleep.

However, when she arrived home, she was greeted by an anxiously pacing hybrid. "What's gotten your tail all in a twist?"

"Where have you been!"

"Dealing with another victim of your mother's, thank you very much."

"What?"

"Alaric," she told him. "You know… the vampire hunter with a dark side? Your mother manipulated his soul whenever he died and ended up on the Other Side. I fixed that. Can't have a crazy human walking around like that."

Klaus' face fell for a moment, disappointment etched on his face before the rage took over. "He has the one remaining White Oak Stake!"

"Well, Alaric won't know where he hid it," Myriam countered as a matter of factly. "His dark self did, and I know where he hid it, so why are you acting like someone pissed in your cereal?"

"You know where it is?"

"Yes."

"Get it. Now, and take Rebekah with you."

"But…"

"Love, please. You know I can't rest until all the weapons that can kill us are destroyed."

She sighed and nodded. "I know that mon Loulou, but the stake is safe. No vampire can get to it."

"But you can."

"I didn't say that."

"You have your trinkets to appear human."

"Yeah, but it didn't fool those witches in that house where the coffins were, how do you expect it to work in the cave system?!"

"You'll find a way. I trust you, and only you, to handle this."

"I can't rest up first? I've had a terribly long day and night."

"Please."

"Fine," Myriam sighed. "But you bet your ass that I'll be jetting off to a tropical destination after this!" She headed to her room where she had her trinkets and dark objects. It was going to require some serious mojo for her to fool the witches this time. And sure, she could compel a human to get it for her, but Klaus was right; he could only trust himself or her with this weapon.

After she had gathered what she wanted, she called for Rebekah, and they set off to the caves. "You know, it never seizes to amaze me what you do for my brother," Rebekah said as they got out of the car. "For the family."

"Yeah well, someone has to make sure you're not making things worse for yourselves," Myriam muttered. "Klaus is my husband. It's my duty to be his wife and protect him. And thus, protect all of you. Besides, I'm the only one Kol truly listens to."

Rebekah chuckled. "Kol listens just fine when threatened."

"And that's where you're wrong. I've been telling you this for the last 300 years, you don't get far with instilling fear, it'll only cause them to hate you more," Myriam said as she descended the stairs. "Anyway, once I'm done with getting the stake, would you like to come with me to the Maldives or something? Just to get away from it all?"

"Can't, I have the school dance coming up, and I'm having far too much fun with the Salvatore boys."

"Just don't kill Damon."

"Oh, you didn't hear? I had him in my possession for a few days, torturing him. Oh, he's so wonderful when he bleeds and squirms."

"Well, at least you didn't kill him."

Rebekah sighed. "If it weren't for Klaus demanding to get all the stakes… he'd still be hanging from the ceiling."

Myriam shrugged as she continued to move down the cave system to where Esther's empty coffin was standing. "Alright, here goes nothing," she muttered as she ordered her demons, her tired demons, to create some distraction for the witches and she managed to get through the barrier after some time.

"Wow," Rebekah said in awe. "I've never really seen you at work like that. That's amazing!"

She let out a dark chuckle. "I live with you guys, I have to be able to protect myself one way or another."

"Do you ever wish to kill one of us?"

"Just like you, Rebekah, I wish that I could kill Elijah every single day, but even with a white oak stake, I couldn't do it. His skewed sense of morality is what Klaus needs from time to time to realise that Elijah is a fucking asshole," Myriam replied. "And thank fuck Finn is dead."

"But Nik is a monster."

"He's my husband. He's not a monster, that's what everyone else says," Myriam replied angrily. "He's a product of his upbringing, the bully of a father. I didn't have to be there to know this. I learned enough through your stories and his to hate both of your parents and Elijah for what they had done to him. He's a scared little boy, deep down who just wants to be accepted for who he is and what he is. And I'm the only one who does that. I don't fear him. I love him, and I'd do anything to make sure that nothing happened to him."

"You're not our mother."

"Thank fuck I'm not," Myriam huffed as she pulled the stake out of the wall. "I understand that she believes she made a mistake by turning her children into vampires. That she hadn't foreseen the bloodlust. But any mother would do what she'd done and love their children regardless. Just with humans, there are bad vampires, but apart from Elijah, you all merely want to live a happy life. It's just sad that your mother doesn't feel that way."

"You'd think that a mother wants what's best for her children."

"And she did, but why think of it as a mistake? Instead, so many people got their lives enriched, including my own. I've travelled the world without having to worry about getting sick or tired. I've started a business, at first to protect the prostitutes, but it has now grown into a shelter for humans who are victims of the supernatural. I make charitable donations to charities, and I help where I can. If it hadn't been for Kol or Klaus, I'd still be that orphan from Nice, and I would have likely ended up dead before I could actually do something with my life."

"Are you going to use that stake?"

"On who? Elijah? Oh, I wish!" Myriam chuckled as she twirled the stake. "No, I'm going to hand it over to Klaus so he can burn it."

"But what if I don't want you to?" Rebekah said out of the blue. "What if I want all of the Originals to die?" She then stepped into the cave without any problems.

"Reb- Ohh, you're not Rebekah." Myriam sighed with resignation. Klaus was going to be pissed - again.


	20. Chapter 20

Myriam came to in a crypt on the Cemetery, and she was shackled to the wall. "Ah, good, you're awake," Esther greeted her. "Please, do try to command your demons to free you, but I can assure you, it won't work."

"What do you want, Esther?"

"Truthfully, hearing you talk so lovingly about my children made me waver for just a little, but I also know that I have to stay the course. Bring balance back to nature."

Myriam let out a snort. "Oh, witches. You are so fickle. Believe me, I was one before your son turned me. By creating the vampires over a thousand years ago, you did at that point imbalance nature. But it's been so long, Esther, the balance has returned. Take the vampires out of the equation, and it'll cause a dangerous imbalance."

"And that, too, shall right itself."

"But why disrupt the balance again? Why?"

"Because I have to. And you're going to help me do it," Esther said as she held the ring that she had confiscated from Myriam, and the White Oak Stake. "Niklaus was very insistent I'd come with you for support, knowing that you were weakened and possibly wouldn't be able to get the stake. But you surprised me, Myriam. You and your demons surprised me, and I think that I can help you become my best vampire hunter yet."

"Why? I don't hate them."

Esther smiled then. "But you hate at least one Original. And at least two ordinary vampires. Now, that hate is something I can use. Together with your demons, I shall turn you into a magnificent vampire killer, and you can't do anything about it to stop me," Esther said as she snapped Myriam's neck with magic and started to do the spell to make the stake invincible.

~o.O.o~

Myriam awoke again when she smelled blood. Oh, she was hungry. Her vampire face bleeding out, she grabbed the bowl and drank all of it to shake the cobwebs out of her mind. It was only then that she'd realised what she'd been drinking and that Elena and Esther were with her in the tomb. "What did you do?"

Esther didn't answer, and instead, snapped Myriam's neck again.

~o.O.o~

She was alone when she woke up again, completely alone, not even her demons were around, and that was somewhat troublesome. Myriam didn't feel different, so she wasn't sure if what Esther had done to her had worked.

Still chained up, Myriam didn't have anywhere to go to but to sit and wait. Closing her eyes she tried to find her demons, make contact, but there were none. She couldn't make the connection anymore, and that frightened her. "Esther, you bitch!" Myriam called out.

"Oh good, you're awake," Esther said chipper as she entered the tomb with the stake in hand. "How are you feeling?"

"You took away my demons? Why?"

She smiled then. "Well, that was certainly not what I expected, but I suppose I'm glad for that side effect," Esther replied as she undid Myriam's shackles.

Myriam immediately got to her feet and pushed Esther against the wall, hard, before ripping out her heart. Whatever Esther did to her, didn't matter. The bitch needed to die. She took a bite out of Esther's heart and chewed on it as she found her phone that had been on silent. There were a lot of missed call messages from Klaus, and she called his number.

" _Where are you!"_

"Your bitch of a mother took me," Myriam replied as she sucked the blood out of Esther's heart. "She made the last White Oak Stake so that it's invincible, but don't worry, it's in my possession."

" _Are you alright?"_

"I don't know."

" _What do you mean, you don't know?"_

"She did something to me, but I don't know what. I need the Bennett bitch to check me over."

" _That can be arranged. Come home. You've been gone for days."_

"What about Esther's body?"

" _I'll have someone collect her at nightfall. Come home, Myriam."_

She disconnected the call and kicked against Esther's lifeless body for good measure before heading outside the tomb. On her way home, she quickly fed on a pickpocketer and walked into her home. "Can we please leave Mystic Falls after all this shit? You guys owe me a tropical vacation!" Myriam announced. "I think I want to go to Indonesia! I haven't been there yet!"

"Anything you wish, love," Klaus said as he started to look her over. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you from my mother… If I had known…"

"I told you so," she scowled at him. "And I can't reach my demons. Where the hell is that Bennett bitch?"

"I'm here," Bonnie replied, her arms crossed over her chest. "And I'm here willingly because you were so gracious to help out with Alaric. He says hi, by the way."

"Yes I did, and because of that I was weakened, and Esther took me by surprise, so Ric is going to be extra nice to me the next time I see him. Now, tell me what the fuck she did to me."

"Calm down, love," Klaus said sweetly as he gently took her hand and led her to the sofa. "Have a seat, have something to drink, and Bonnie will check you over. There's no need for panic."

"Yet. I swear, if that bitch took away my access to the demons, I'll revive her and kill her all over again. How the fuck am I supposed to protect myself? Or make sure you're protected? I'm still a fucking normal, fragile vampire!" She then growled as she pulled the Stake out of her pants leg. "Here. You can't destroy this one, so you'd better hide it well. I don't want to die."

Bonnie sat down next to her with a small smile on her face.

"What?"

"Stop being so aggravated," Bonnie said reassuringly.

"But my fucking demons!"

"I know, but you need to calm down because I'm a very fragile mortal being and I don't want you to rip my head off," Bonnie replied, causing Myriam to roll her eyes. "I mean it, Myriam. I'm here because of you, not because Klaus asked. Because you were right all along. Just because you hang out with someone we don't like, doesn't mean we don't have to like you."

"Oh, and now you see the light. Well, whoopty doo."

Bonnie took Myriam's hand and squeezed it, hard. "Calm down. Close your eyes and breathe."

"This is stupid," Myriam muttered but did as she was told. It was her who had wanted Bonnie to check her over anyway, and she was being a terrible patient. But she was scared. So scared. What if Esther had done something irreversible and that would mean that her time with Klaus was limited?

Bonnie was quiet for a moment as she tried to piece things together. "I need to call Jeremy. We need his help."

"What? Why?" Myriam said panicked. "Is there something wrong? Bonnie? Am I going to die? But I can't die, Bonnie, I have a husband to please and a business to run. I'm far too young to-"

Bonnie put her hand over Myriam's mouth and smiled. "I need Jeremy because of the lack of demons you mentioned. He can contact the Other Side. Maybe he can find a friendly dead witch of your choosing to inform us what Esther has done to you."

"I don't know any friendly witches. I hate witches and witches hated me, even when I was one before I turned," she mumbled against her hand.

"That is true," Klaus verified as he watched silently, trying to be as supportive as he could.

"Okay… so… a friendly dead vampire then?"

Myriam merely rolled her eyes at the girl.

"Fine, we'll try one of our friendlies. But I'm going to need Jeremy."

Jeremy arrived with a vampire escort in the guise of Damon 15 minutes later. "We didn't ask for you," Myriam said as she saw Damon.

"No, but there was no way in hell we were going to send Jeremy into the Mikaelson lair by himself, and I'm the one you tolerate most so here I am," Damon shrugged as he leaned against the doorpost. "You want him, you have to have me around."

"It's fine," Bonnie said as she took Jeremy's hand and had him sit down close to her and Myriam. "Myriam had an encounter with Esther. Myriam can't reach her demons anymore."

"Demons?"

"Like spirits, but controllable. She had them do everything, apparently. And she can't reach them anymore. I think the answer lies on the Other Side," Bonnie explained.

Jeremy nodded. "I think you're right," he said as he looked around. "There are a lot of angry dead witches around her, and they're not talking."

Myriam glared around the room at no one and nothing in particular. "Yeah, well, I didn't do a damn thing to them to be pissed at me. If they have a bone to pick at anyone, tell them to take it up with Klaus' bitch of a mother. I only ripped her two-faced heart out of her chest."

"Actually, this is a whole line of witches, and they're connected to you," Jeremy said, a smile on his face. "Someone's finally talking. Uh… Giovanna d'Medici, she says she's called."

She turned and glared at the boy, but shut her mouth herself. "Oh. Well, then I have nothing to say. They got their due diligence, and they know why," she muttered and sat back on the couch, crossing her arms petulantly.

 _We aren't happy with Myriam, she cursed our entire family after finding out that she was the bastard child of one of our ancestors. We understand her anger, her rage because she was rejected and didn't get to enjoy the safety and comfort that our family name holds. Or held._ Jeremy relayed that message and saw Damon smacking his face. "What?"

"I'll tell you later," he said with a painful expression on his face.

 _They don't wish to help Myriam, but I understand her pain. She must have led such an awful life, and I'm happy that she has found happiness, true happiness, with a family that adores her. She has done her penance._

 _The one you call Esther tried to make Myriam into a vampire hunter. A killer, to make sure that the vampires would cease to exist. Esther had tapped into the rage and hatred she felt towards certain individuals but hadn't thought about Myriam's love for her husband. Nor had she taken into account Myriam's demonology side. Her demons._

 _Her demons amplified her love for Niklaus and created a barrier so that the hunting aspect of the spell didn't hit. Myriam got what she wanted. She now is an Original vampire, like her husband, and she can't be killed unless it's with the White Oak Stake. Unfortunately, she had to give up on her demons, because Nature requires balance and an Original vampire is a being much more powerful than she's ever been._

"What?" Myriam said flabbergasted. "Is she lying?"

"No, she confirms what I already believed, but I know you wanted to hear about your demons," Bonnie replied. "So… congratulations, you're an Original Vampire now."

Klaus came around the couch and sat down on the opposite side of Myriam, taking her hand. "Are you serious? I mean, are you sure? That is not a simple task to be done. And you need specific components that are not readily available. I don't want this to be reversed for her if someone were to find out."

"She used a modified spell, but it's very similar to the spell Esther used for you. For all intents and purposes, Myriam is an Original. She's one of you. She's still the Myriam you got to know and love. More sturdy and durable, that's all."

 _And perhaps a little extra dose of rage, but let's keep that to ourselves, Jeremy. You can inform your friends later._ Jeremy shook his head. "Can I go now?"

Nodding his appreciation, Klaus smiled at him. "Thank you," he murmured. "If there is anything I can do for you for what you have done tonight, please let me know."

"You could leave my sister alone."

"Anything but that, young Gilbert."

"If there's anything else…" Bonnie said before the previously motionless Myriam took her hand without warning.

"You're not lying to me, are you?"

"I could have, but what's the point? You're truly one of them now, Myriam, and I do hope your personality won't change along with it because you're actually pretty normal compared to them."

"Bonnie."

"Myriam," she smiled at her. "I'm not lying. I have no reason to."

"We could always prove that Bonnie's right by driving a stake through your heart," Damon shrugged from his spot by the door.

"No!"

"Esther has given us all a headache, but at least now something good has come out of it. And that's a lot of thanks to your demons," Bonnie assured Myriam. "I don't know if you had any in play, but you may want to find an exorcist to remove them."

"That's not necessary, I can do that myself, thank you," Myriam replied, still shocked by what she had heard. She had always wanted to be stronger and more durable than an ordinary vampire, mainly because she was with Klaus and Kol, and now she had gotten her wish. Myriam took a deep breath and smiled at Bonnie before hugging her. "Thank you, Bonnie."

"You're welcome. I'll be going too then."

Damon almost hurried Jeremy and Bonnie out of the house and straight into the car. "Call Stefan, Elena and Alaric and tell them to meet us at the house," Damon said as he started the car. "ASAP."

"Why?"

"Because Myriam has been right all along. Klaus is not the one we should fear. I'll explain when we're back home. Call them. Now."

~o.O.o~

As soon as they were all gathered in the Salvatore sitting room, Damon poured himself a big glass of bourbon. "So, time for a history lesson. Who has heard of the Medici Family?" He wasn't surprised to see the blank stares on most of the faces. "Alaric, history teacher, what do you know of them?"

"Ah, they're part of European history. It's not something taught in schools because, in light of everything, they were only a small smidge of history. World War Two is something that basically drowned out all the other European History taught," Alaric replied. "I think their roots are in Italy or France?"

"European history or not, it is of importance," Damon sighed as he walked over to the bookcase. "Jeremy! Who did you speak to on the other side?"

"Giovanna d'Medici- wait, you mean the same Medici as you're asking about?" Jeremy said surprised.

"Ding ding! Go on."

"She said that Myriam cursed her entire family after finding out that Myriam was a bastard child- Myriam is Italian?"

"French," Damon replied as he grabbed the book he looked for and tossed it to Elena. "Before Myriam was turned, she was a witch and hung out with Kol Mikaelson. Now, we all know that Myriam always had something up her sleeve, and that were her demons."

"But she lost them now," Bonnie piped up.

"Sure, but I doubt that was all that Myriam was able to do. You don't need magic for Voodoo, for example. Anyway, the Medici family was an Italian banking family in Italy with a love for politics. Big family. Dad always said that our family lived close to some Medici family members, but I never believed him. Just because we're Italian doesn't mean we've ever brushed elbows with near royalty," Damon took a swig of his alcohol. "Their bank grew out to be the biggest of Europe in the 15th century, and it helped them bankroll some politicians of their own in Florence."

"Wait, is this the family of Catherine d'Medici who married King Henry II?" Alaric piped up.

"The one and only, Ric."

"Yeah, if you look closely into the European royal family trees, you see a lot of Medici's. Dukes. Regents. Hell, there are even popes."

"Fascinating history and all, but what does it have to do with me - us?" Elena said as she closed the book. "What happened over at Klaus' anyway?"

"We'll get to that in a bit, Elena. Now, Ric, tell me, what happened to the Medici family? Do you remember?" Damon was glad to have jogged his friend's memory.

"Truthfully? I think history happened and like most important European families, forgotten."

Damon took another sip of his drink. "Not quite. They had so many family members, and around the end of the 1690's there was only a handful left."

"How do you know? That was long before you were even born."

"I like to read, sue me," Damon shrugged. "Stefan should know all this because he's spent more time in Europe than I have, but oh well. In any case, it always fascinated me. The Medici mystery. What happened to them to cause such a rapid decline in family members?"

"Myriam?" Jeremy asked, unsure of himself.

"Yep," Damon said, popping his p. "Myriam was alive and human at the end of the 1600's and running with Kol Mikaelson. I never knew her true story, but she has told me that she was a daughter of a whore and a nobleman."

"It makes sense, in that time you had courtesans and servants who were more than willing to please their masters," Alaric replied.

"So, what if Myriam's mother got knocked up by one of the Medici's and was then forgotten about? What if Myriam had never known who her father was until Kol Mikaelson came along and found something in her mother's belongings or something? He's a fucking curious asshole so I would see him rummaging through her things."

"Wait a second," Elena said with half a chuckle. "You mean that Myriam is the reason why that family's member count rapidly declined? No way, she may be a bitch and Klaus' wife, but she'd never do that."

"Just like Stefan wouldn't go nuts on human blood?" Bonnie asked, a smile on her face.

"That's different!"

"Is it?"

"Myriam hates Stefan!"

Stefan sighed as he reached for the bottle of alcohol. "Myriam hates me because I forced Damon to turn. Because I killed someone she cared about. She hates me, because she knows what I am capable of, just like Klaus does. Klaus loves me as a Ripper because that means I don't have to do his dirty work. Myriam hates it because I don't have any remorse or respect for my kills when I do. So yeah, Myriam's hatred towards me is well founded, and I don't blame her for it." He then let out a sigh. "If it hadn't been for Damon or me keeping you alive, Elena, I would have been dead already."

"Myriam was the one who compelled Caroline to jump off the belltower when she had vampire blood in her system," Damon pointed out. "Caroline never shared it because I asked her not to. Myriam made sure that everything was in place for her husband to break his curse. That included planning everything out with him. The backups. The red herrings. Everything." He took another sip of his drink. "And the worst part? She says that under her influence the Mikaelsons have mellowed out, grew up. I'm afraid that they're the ones who are keeping her grounded and under control."

"She no longer has magic, and she's an original. Bonnie can desiccate her if needed and -"

"I'm not going to do that," Bonnie shook her head. "We all turned our backs on Myriam the moment we learned that she was on Team Klaus. I think that we should try to make amends with her and hope that she won't level this entire town when she throws a tantrum." She then looked at Jeremy with a smile. "What does Giovanna say?"

"How did you-"

"The look on your face."

Jeremy sighed. "Without her demons, Myriam will be off balance for awhile. She has always relied on her pets to scope things out. To eavesdrop. To be one step ahead of everyone and everything. Now she doesn't have that anymore. She'll need some time to get used to that, but Giovanna doesn't believe that Myriam will be a threat to us. Not as long as we treat her right. Myriam might actually be a good influence on Klaus for having him stop creating hybrids."

"I doubt that," Damon huffed. "Although I did overhear them fight when we were at their ball. Maybe she's right. Okay, how long?"

"She doesn't know, sorry," Jeremy shrugged.

"Well," Alaric sighed. "I guess Klaus was the least of our worries."

~o.O.o~

"We're not going to Indonesia?"

"Perhaps later," Klaus softly kissed her. "But I had something else in mind. It's also a tropical destination, and it'll be just you and me. Sun. Beach. A forest. Peace and quiet."

"Hmm… that sounds good. What about Kol?"

"What about him?"

"Is he coming with?"

"Sweetheart, I want it to be just us. Husband and wife. You and me. Kol can join us later in Indonesia if he so wishes, but I want to take you on this trip alone."

"What about Caroline? Elena?"

"What about them?"

"Don't you want to create more hybrids?"

"Of course, but first, you and I need to spend some quality time together. I've been neglecting you, and I want to make it right."

Myriam sighed as she rolled into him as they were still in bed. "You just want to get me out of here before I do something I might regret because you think I'm out of balance without my demons."

"And you know that I'm right about that. You may not show it, but I can smell your anxiety, love. You've relied on your pets for so long that it'll take you some time to get used to it. And I'm taking you away to do just that and to spend quality time with you. Without anyone else around."

"And then Indonesia?"

"And then we'll go to Indonesia, and we'll ask Kol to join us. I promise."

She let out a squeal of delight. "We're finally going to have our honeymoon!"

~o.O.o~

The deserted island they were on near Indonesia was heavenly. Just her and Klaus, and her grief. Oh, she didn't like it that she had to miss her demons, but she got what she had wished for for so long; true immortality, and she knew that losing her demons was a worthy sacrifice. And it wasn't as if they had let her down, either. They had worked hard for her, as she had respect for them and cared for them as if they were family members.

And that, ultimately, had saved her from the brunt of Esther's spell.

And Klaus reminded her that she still had her Voodoo. She couldn't do as much as she could have done with her demons, but she could still practise her religion. And that was something she liked.

Even though he was reluctant to make good on his promise of inviting Kol to join them in Indonesia, he did anyway because he knew it made Myriam happy and Kol deserved some fun as well; surprisingly enough his brother hadn't been a pain in the ass since he was undaggered and had been helpful instead.

Plus, Klaus had to admit that Myriam was right about this, with the right kind of attention and acceptance, Kol was a great sibling.

Until, of course, he should do something that was terribly out of line and Klaus would need to dagger him again. Although, he'd never dagger Myriam for transgressions against him because she was his wife. His family. Kol was family. Maybe he needed to stop doing that.

They were enjoying a nice meal consisting of some typical Indonesian cuisine and the taste of their servers while the sun was setting. It was perfect and just the three of them. This was the right time to do what he had wanted to do for so long. There was finally peace and quiet, and that new ring he had made for her was burning a hole in his pants.

"Does it ever annoy you that I've never properly asked you to marry me, Myriam?" Klaus asked as he looked over at his wife. "That you never had a real wedding? Just a signed paper?"

"Maybe in the beginning, but then again, you didn't touch me for 25 years, so it didn't feel like we were married anyway," Myriam shrugged. "I've resigned to the fact that that time of our lives wasn't the right one to have a wedding, and that fast was better as you were so willing to get rid of me."

"To get you to safety."

"It felt like abandonment for a very long time," she huffed. "And I felt that exact feeling for a while after you came to Mystic Falls."

"I just wished we had a good old-fashioned ball to celebrate your union after we came to New Orleans," Kol added. "You know, with me out of the box?"

Myriam chuckled. "Yes. You would have been my maid of honour, Kol."

"What!"

Klaus couldn't help but crack a smile then. Oh, he was so ready for doing it right now. "Well," he said as he reached into his pocket and produced a new wedding ring, one that was more elegant and of this time, less clunky but also adorned with diamonds and a beautiful lapis lazuli in the middle. Spelt, of course. "Myriam Envie Mikaelson d'Medici, would you do me the extraordinary honour to marry me? Again? Properly this time?"


	21. Chapter 21

They had a lovely little ceremony on the beach, just her, Klaus and Kol, with the promise that once they returned to Mystic Falls, they'd hold a ball to celebrate their vows. Myriam was over the moon to have a real wedding. A minister, vows, and Kol as her maid of honour.

Even though they had been married for 300 years, it felt more real now.

Klaus had scored bonus points for allowing her to change her name. While she'd never really used her middle name Envie, meaning desire, longing or even jealousy, she felt it didn't belong to her anymore. The same went with her last name. She didn't need it for protection anymore, and most of her Medici assets had been sold over the years so she could create her own.

Myriam Hope Jenkins married Niklaus Mikaelson that day, and she couldn't have been happier.

However, celebrations had to be put on hold, much to Myriam's and Kol's objection. Klaus had received a text message from Rebekah asking for his return because there was a vampire hunter in town and she was scared. When Klaus asked for more information, Rebekah replied that she had a suspicion that this hunter was one of the Five.

"But how is that possible? I killed them back in Florence?" Myriam asked as they were getting on the plane. "Kol was there, he told me they were hunters of the Five!"

Kol let out a groan. "I think they're a bit like Buffy, the vampire slayer," he sighed. "In each generation… all that crap."

"You're watching way too much TV, Kol," Myriam laughed.

"Seriously, though. It would make sense. First, we encounter them in 1114, then in Florence and now here? Their existence couldn't possibly be just for killing vampires. No, there must be a reason. They're mortal vampire killers. What if every generation has a bunch of potentials - like Buffy the vampire slayer?" Kol replied as he sat down. "Everything that's supernatural and recurring has a reason for it."

"There is," Klaus said after a while as if remembering something. "Remember Alexander? The hunter Rebekah tried to bed? He told us their story. That they were protecting something. Someone."

Kol paled then. "Please Nik, don't tell me-"

"They're still on their crusade to complete their mark for the cure to vampirism," Klaus said grimly. "We need to go back and put a stop to this."

"I'll just kill them again," Myriam said simply.

"Love, how are you going to do that without your demons? Killing them with your own hands will cause you to suffer from the Hunter's Curse and trust me, it's not easy to live with," Klaus gently squeezed her knee. "When we land in Richmond, I want you and Kol to reach out to your witch contacts, see if what we fear is true."

"But I killed the coven who worshipped Silas!" Kol spluttered.

"Well, find someone else!" Klaus replied angrily. "We need to know if this cure is real and if it is, we need to get our hands on it because there is a possibility that it'll be used on me!"

"Hey," Myriam crawled into his lap and softly kissed him. "Don't worry, we'll see if there's a way to kill the hunters without going crazy and we'll try to find out of the stories are true. You go and tend to your hybrid and keep an eye on your doppelganger. Kol and I will do everything in our power to find more information."

"I'm sorry, love, I know I promised you a ball in your honour."

"Our honour. And we have all the time in the world," she kissed him again. "I'm happily married. I feel happily married. For real."

~o.O.o~

2011

Myriam and Kol spent a month and a half looking for answers. Kol had told her everything he knew about Silas and his cult, and again the story about the Five because she had forgotten some of it - she only remembered her demons killing them last time because Kol had been so afraid of them.

During their time away, Klaus dutifully kept her apprised of everything he had done, and what he had discovered. That Elena was a vampire and that he could no longer make hybrids. That he had to cure Elena because the hunter had spiked a keg of beer at a party that Rebekah had thrown. That he had gone to Italy to retrieve Alexander's sword, Alexander being the first hunter and Rebekah's former lover, as it would complete the map on a hunter's body and it'd point in the direction of Silas and the cure for vampirism. How Rebekah was back in her box. And, that he helped Elena with her hunter's curse as she had killed the Hunter. How he had murdered all of his hybrids apart from Tyler with the sword, he had found in Italy because his hybrids tried to kill him and then he killed Carol Lockwood for revenge on Tyler. And how Rebekah was back out of her box.

Klaus was spiralling, but she and Kol knew that. Realizing that they had all the information they could gather, they returned to Mystic Falls and right back into the action. Rebekah was playing with Elena, Caroline, Stefan and Tyler to find the cure, and this professor that had been sticking around who knew exactly where the location of the cure was, was in school as well because Myriam and Kol picked him up.

Myriam was torn between sticking with Kol or have a front row seat for the torture that Rebekah implemented but on the other hand… seeing Kol in action was always a feast. It wasn't as if Myriam could go to Klaus at this point, he was at the Gilbert family cabin to deal with Damon and Jeremy the Hunter. Poor Jeremy.

"Where is the cure?" Kol demanded as he pushed Professor Shane into the water. Myriam rolled her eyes from her spot at the door. "What?"

"He can't actually say shit when he's submerged," she pointed out.

"Oh, you're right, thanks darling," he said as he pulled Shane out of the water. "Where is the cure?"

"How is he doing?" Rebekah asked as she walked into the classroom and Kol dunked Shane back into the water.

"Brilliantly. Your brother is just… so good at this," Myriam sighed appreciatively. "I think you're both very good at what you're doing. As Kol said, you're almost as bad as Klaus."

"Ah, don't sell yourself short, darling," Rebekah beamed. "Thanks for letting us play." When Kol pulled Shane out of the water again, Rebekah sighed. "You're human. Why do you want it anyway?"

"That's the beauty of this," Shane said out of breath. "You can have it, I just want Silas."

"No!" Kol said as he grabbed Shane and pulled him to his feet. "What do you know about Silas?"

"He's the world's first immortal being who just happens to be imprisoned with the cure. And I want to free him."

"Oh hell no," Myriam said as Kol dragged the professor back to the water to dunk him into it. She would have done the same as Kol was doing right now. There was no way that Silas was going to walk the Earth again. No fucking way.

"Stop!" Rebekah said just as the professor was about to die. "He's of no use dead!"

"Did you not hear what he just said?" Kol angrily shot at his sister. "Silas will kill us all, sister."

"Silas does not exist. He's a fairytale. Made up to scare children into eating their vegetables."

"Silas is very real," Shane panted as he held on to the sink. "I know where he's buried and soon I will have the spell that wakes him."

Myriam narrowed her eyes at the dripping human in front of them. "Wait a second, you're lying. You can't get to him without his-"

"Without his tombstone? Dozens to die in a blood sacrifice? Yeah, believe me, I know. I've done it," Shane said as he tried to get to his feet. "Those massacres are a pain to engineer."

"You're the one who blew up the council," Rebekah realised.

"It was a noble sacrifice. And temporary, because once I raise Silas, Silas will raise the dead." Myriam noticed Kol moving from the corner of her eye but kept her eyes trained on Shane. "He will bring back every last soul who died on his behalf."

"No!" Kol said as he used his speed to push Shane against the wall and impaled him on a copper rod.

"What did you do!" Rebekah screeched as she advanced on her brother.

"You should be thanking me," Kol said as he kept Rebekah from hitting him. "Myriam would have done the same."

"Yep," Myriam nodded.

"You killed my only chance at finding the cure!"

"Silas on the loose would mean hell on Earth, Rebekah," Myriam said calmly.

"And frankly, sister," Kol added as he pulled the immortal white oak stake out of his pocket, a devious smile on his lips. "I don't think you could handle it."

"How did you get that?"

"Way too easily," Kol replied playfully. "Are you coming, Myriam?"

"Yep," she replied as she followed Kol out. They had a lot of work to do, and making sure that Jeremy wouldn't become a full-fledged hunter with his entire mark on his body was the most important thing on their list.

There was no doubt that Klaus didn't know the whole story and that he was likely merely after the cure, just like Rebekah. Just like Damon and Stefan. But the consequences of getting that cure would be too great. Silas was an even bigger monster than any of the Original vampires combined.

Sure, both Myriam and Kol didn't know the full story as there was barely anyone left who could tell them the story, but everyone they spoke knew that raising Silas would be catastrophic. Myriam suspected that there was so much more to the story, why would there be an immortal, with the cure, and not walking the Earth? All it could bring was bad news.

"You know," Myriam said as she was looking on her phone and Kol was driving. "Near the Gilbert holiday home, there's a bar."

"You reckon Nik made a bunch of new vampires there for Jeremy to kill?"

"No doubt about it. It's what I would do. And you too, if we're being honest."

"Although I wouldn't be so stupid to go after the bloody cure and raise Silas!"

"No, because you know better. And so do I., But we don't know if it truly means the end of time, or if something else happens. Until we can prove that something terrible is going to happen, people will ignore our ideas. Rebekah wants the cure because she wants to be human. Damon, Stefan and Jeremy want it to cure Elena of her vampirism and Klaus wants it because he's afraid it'll be used against him." She then thought for a moment. "And you know, I wouldn't be surprised if Katerina showed up to get the cure herself so that she has leverage over Klaus."

"She'd be a fool."

"She's done worse," Myriam shrugged.

Kol let out a snort. "We've done worse."

"Still, this whole thing? She could take advantage of the mess."

"I'm more afraid of Silas than Katerina Petrova, Myriam. As long as we make sure nobody gets the cure, we'll be alright. Even if it takes killing them all and give Nik the cure for safekeeping."

Myriam sighed as she relaxed in her car seat. "Just drive. Klaus will be angry with me enough as it is for making sure Jeremy won't complete the mark."

"Have you tried explaining yourself to him?"

"The paranoia is strong in that one," she sighed again. "He's more worried about the cure than Silas. You know, that's the fucked up part about not having my demons anymore. I could just sit back and tell them what to do. Now, I have to choose. And to keep my husband safe, I am choosing to side with his brother."

"He'll forgive you, you're his wife."

When they arrived at the bar, she actually felt bad that it was full of new vampires just like she had expected. These innocent people were all turned into vampires for one reason; to complete Jeremy's hunter mark, and now they were going to die for nothing. "I thought we had rules about making vampires," Myriam muttered.

"Nik isn't thinking clearly. Shall we?"

Myriam nodded as she walked over to the jukebox and put on some cheesy dance song while she and Kol slaughtered every single vampire in the bar and put them all in cold storage before both taking a bottle of alcohol from the bar and taking a well deserved few sips.

"Oh, that felt good, didn't it, darling?"

"It had to be done."

"Exactly! Just because they used to be innocent people, doesn't mean we should allow Jeremy to kill them."

"Speaking of which… I think I heard a car," Myriam said before they both moved out of sight, just in case. But she could hear Damon's voice outside, so there was no doubt that they had come to kill the vampires. Oh, she was all giddy now. Weren't they going to be disappointed!

"Something's not right," Damon muttered, his voice clearly audible over the loud jukebox in the bar area. She could hear him and Jeremy walk towards the cold storage, no doubt following the trail of blood that was on the floor. They walked through the plastic curtains and Myriam tried not to let out a giggle as she put a hand on her mouth. "Ah…" Damon groaned. "Looks like we're going to have to find some new vampires. What a waste!"

"What the hell happened?" Jeremy sounded shocked.

Kol signalled for her to stay out of sight still, and walked up behind the vampire and the hunter. "I confess," he said with his hands raised, one hand still holding his bottle of alcohol. Jeremy swung around his weapon to point it at him. "I did it."

"Kol?"

"Jeremy!" Kol smiled widely as he lowered his arms. "Good to see you, mate! Sorry about the mess," he sighed. "It was a little crowded when we arrived, and we prefer more intimate gatherings."

"We?"

Myriam took a swig from her bottle as she joined Kol by his side. "Boys," she nodded as a greeting.

"Myriam?" Damon blinked. "What the hell!"

"We four need a little chat," Kol said as he took a swig of his bottle. "Care for a drink?"

"He's underage," Damon said as he tapped Jeremy's arm. "And I don't like you, used to like her but if she's on the crazy train… I don't like her either. So let's just cut to it."

"My brother bragged about his plan to complete Jeremy's hunter mark," Kol laughed slightly. "It was easy enough to track this lot down. They were all hiding in the shadows."

"Killing young vampires is easy," Myriam shrugged. "Same goes for the older ones."

"Why? What is it to you either way?" Damon moved in front of Jeremy so that Kol or Myriam couldn't get to him, but he felt severely outnumbered.

"Because, you fools, in your zeal to find the cure you risk waking someone very dangerous."

"Ohh, you must be talking about Silas!"

"What do you know of him?"

"Nothing. Don't want to. Not our problem."

"Isn't it?" Myriam piped up.

"No, it's not."

"My God, I can't believe you're so short-sighted, Damon. I had you pegged smarter than that.'

"You see, a few hundred years back I came across a group that worshipped Silas. His followers told me that he would rise again, and when he did, he would trigger the end of all time," Kol explained. "You know, being an immortal, you can see why I'm opposed to time's ending. So I murdered all of them. And now, here you are willing to risk raising him in your search for the cure. I can't exactly sit back and let that happen, can I?"

"We're not going to back off the cure because you were told one too many scary bedtime stories, you idiot," Damon huffed before looking at Myriam. "You truly believe this guy?"

"For the last month and a half we've been trying to find more information about what the end of time will entail, but we couldn't find anything. Only that it would be really really bad for us. Please, Damon, stop this nonsense," she asked him. "I know you want the cure for Elena, but is that really worth the risk?"

"Totally."

Kol pushed Damon to the side. "Jeremy, we were mates in Colorado. You're a smart lad. Why don't you call off this imbecilic treasure hunt?"

"I'm not calling anything off, mate," Jeremy spat at him. "I'm sorry, Myriam, but I'm not."

Myriam sighed as she took a few steps back when Kol started to move again. She knew him too well, and this was likely not going to end well. "Well, I could kill you," Kol shrugged as he set down his bottle of bourbon. "But then I'd have to deal with the hunter's curse, and I- I don't feel particularly like being haunted for the next century. Neither does Myriam," he said as he pretended to think and snapped his fingers. "Better idea! I'll just rip off your arms!"

When Kol made a move, Damon pushed him away from Jeremy all the way into the bar area, causing Myriam to roll her eyes. So predictable. From the both of them. Some smacking around and Myriam merely sighed as she kept an eye on Jeremy.

"Jeremy, run!" Damon yelled at him, causing Jeremy to quickly put a knife in Myriam's leg and pushing her to the side before running out.

Kol got the upper hand in the fight and had Damon in a headlock. "You okay, darling?"

"I'll live," she muttered as she pulled the knife out of her leg. "Don't kill him."

"Oh, I won't even touch him… much," Kol grinned as he snapped Damon's neck and put him down in a chair. "He's on vervain, isn't he?"

"Yep," Myriam said as she took a sip of her bottle of alcohol and picked up a beam for Kol to push through Damon's torso, causing Kol to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "I said not kill him. Torture is fine. Compelling him to do things is fine."

Kol shrugged as he broke the beam and pushed it a little inside of Damon so he would start to bleed out. "How long is he usually out?"

"Not long, 30 min max," Myriam shrugged as she looked at her bottle. "Empty. I'm going to get another one," she said before breaking the bottle and making a few more cuts on Damon's body to make the bleeding out go a bit faster. He wasn't saturated in vervain, so they didn't have to bleed him out completely to have some fun with him. She then went to get another bottle of alcohol and Damon was coming to.

"Come on, Nik, I was only having some fun," Kol said as Myriam walked back in.

" _Those vampires were for my hunter."_

"I'll make some more, there's no shortage of people."

" _Where's Damon Salvatore?"_

Kol giggled. "I gave him a good and proper beating. Just for old times sake."

" _Yes, well, you've had your fun. Now let him go and come home. Avoid any more trouble, or you'll find yourself back in a box."_

Myriam growled. "The hell he is."

" _Is that Myriam?"_

"No. And no need to get nasty about all of this!"

" _On the contrary, I find nastiness to be essential whenever my siblings try to sabotage me! Listen closely Kol. Stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?"_

"Fine. I won't touch him. You have my word," Kol said as he disconnected the call.

When Myriam's phone beeped, she had a look at the message and scoffed. "He's telling me not to touch Jeremy, too. As if I'm so stupid to kill a hunter without my demons!" She took a swig of her bottle and looked at Damon who was looking quite angry as he held onto the pole.

"Very good, darling," Kol said encouragingly to Damon. "Now, stab yourself a little further," he compelled him.

Damon groaned as he did what he was told to do. "If you're going to kill me, do it like a man!"

"I don't want to kill you. Well, I do, but Myriam told me I wasn't allowed to kill you," he shrugged. "I merely wanted to make sure you were able to be compelled."

"I'm gonna rip out your spleen."

"Hey now, be nice, Damon," Myriam said from her spot near the door.

"Why aren't you stopping him, Myriam?"

"Because you're an idiot."

"You know, Damon, you ought to be thanking me," Kol said as he walked closer to Damon. "You don't really want the cure found. You fancy Elena, even more now that she's a vampire. Admit it," he smiled at him. "The last vestige of her humanity is her annoying little brother Jeremy. And deep, deep down you want him dead. Don't you?"

"Nope," Damon replied. "And neither does Myriam."

"I don't?"

"He helped you after the whole Esther thing."

"Oh," Myriam cooed and thought for a moment. "Yeah, no. I don't owe him anything. I don't feel anything towards the two Gilberts but toleration. Sometimes."

Kol grabbed Damon around the shoulder and squeezed it. "You're lying, Damon. With Jeremy out of the way, Elena will be yours. And yours alone. I bet you'd love to rip his head right off. And I'm going to give you your wish." Kol then turned around and looked Damon in the eye. "You're not going to remember what I say, but you're going to find Jeremy Gilbert, and when you do, you're going to kill him."

When they got home, they were 'greeted' by Rebekah. "Going somewhere? I would if I were you. If Damon kills the hunter, Nik will not be pleased."

Myriam huffed. "If Klaus listened to us instead of his paranoia, he'd see what we're up to."

"I told Nik I wouldn't touch the kid," Kol retorted. "I didn't."

"Oh well, that was clever," Rebekah nodded. "I'm sure that he'll really appreciate it."

When Kol moved passed Rebekah, she pulled out a dagger and held it against his back, causing Kol to freeze, immediately. "You'd really dagger me?"

"If I do, Damon's compulsion ends, and this is all over."

"Then you're no better than Niklaus," Kol growled.

Myriam pulled the dagger out of Rebekah's hand. "Gimme that. No one's going to be doing any daggering."

"Give that back!" Rebekah yelled as she tried to get the dagger out of Myriam's possession.

"Look at what you guys have become! Bickering idiots, the lot of you!" Myriam countered angrily. "All this for what? The cure? Paranoia on Klaus' part, you want to be human and what? Do you really think that the cure will provide for multiple vampires? No. It likely won't, Rebekah. My god, just imagine what would happen if the cure would be found! You'll kill each other over it!"

"Oh shut up, Myriam. This family was ruined way before we knew about the cure."

Kol turned around with the white oak stake in his hand and put it against Rebekah's heart. "I won't let you raise Silas."

Klaus ran in and pushed Kol against the wall. "Enough of this foolishness. Put it down, Kol." Of course, Kol wouldn't. He ran away instead. With the stake. Klaus then turned to Myriam. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Why?" Myriam asked as she twirled the silver dagger between her fingers. "Kol and I have told you what will happen if you find the cure, and you don't seem to care. The best way to stop you is to stop Jeremy and to silence Shane."

"He was going to kill me!"

Klaus rolled his eyes as he looked at Rebekah. "Well then, I suppose you'll need lessons in how to properly dagger a sibling."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at him. "Burn in hell!" she said before leaving through the same door as Kol had.

"This is your fault, Myriam!"

"My fault? How the hell is this my fault?!" Myriam countered angrily. "For the last month and a half Kol and I have done as you asked us to; to gather more information about this cure, and prove that Silas wasn't just a scary bedtime story. The cure and Silas come together, Klaus, it's a two for one deal. Silas will kill us all."

"How are you allowing yourself to listen to Kol's paranoid rants?"

"As if yours are any better!" Myriam countered angrily before raising her hands in defeat. "You know what? Fine. I'll just stay quiet and watch from afar. As long as you'll know that once Silas is back, I'll so remind you of the fact that both Kol and I warned you about him."

"Silas is a myth! A story!"

"Just like the sun and moon curse was!"

"Did you at least find evidence that the stories are true?"

"No."

"Then until we find the cure, Silas does not exist."

Myriam wanted to tell him that he was an idiot but instead pretended to zip her mouth shut and headed upstairs to their bedroom to hide the silver dagger. There was no fighting this, and she was tired to be in the middle of it all, so she decided to stay out of it.

It wasn't as if she wasn't used to the Original siblings fighting with each other and getting physical or threatening with daggers, but like always, it was best to stay out of their way in case she'd end up as collateral damage.

She just hoped nobody she cared for would end up hurt in the process.


	22. Chapter 22

Myriam decided to go out of town for a few days and left her cell phone at home. She had enough of people not listening and squabbling siblings. She went to New Orleans instead, quietly slipping in and out of the city while she caught up with Isabella and Débauche.

However, when she returned home a few days later, a jar of ashes was standing on the coffee table, and Klaus was sitting next to it with a few empty bottles of alcohol. "Where were you!" he growled as he got to his feet. "Where the hell were you?! I tried calling you at least a hundred times, and you didn't pick up!"

"I left my phone here. I had enough of you and Kol making me choose a side!"

"Yeah, well, as _my wife_ you should have chosen _my_ side!"

"Not after all the stories Kol and I heard about Silas!"

Klaus pointed at the jar. "His insistence got him killed, Myriam. If only you had tempered his enthusiasm for those stories, he wouldn't have ended up in a pile of ash!"

Myriam looked at him, confused. "What?"

"Kol's dead because you went along in his delusions!"

She stumbled back in shock then, her chest tightened, and she could feel tears form in her eyes. It was like the wind got knocked out of her body. "No… He can't be… w-what happened?"

"He was lured to the Gilbert house for a 'truce'. It was all an elaborate plan to kill him, and complete Gilbert's hunters mark!"

Myriam managed to bark out a laugh. "Just like you wanted."

"Not at the expense of my brother! This is your fault, Myriam. You encouraged him and went along with him! You should have stopped him!" He walked towards her with a raised hand but lowered it after realising what he was doing. "It's a good thing you're my wife."

Myriam hadn't flinched, Klaus was grieving, but so was she. "Who killed him?"

"Jeremy. Elena helped," Klaus admitted with a sigh. "To their defence, Kol was going to kill Elena and chop off Jeremy's arms."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"Me?"

"Yeah? Did you at least get your beloved cure so that Kol didn't die for nothing?"

"Katerina she -"

"Oh, of course! _Mon Dieu_! I told Kol this was a possibility! He died for nothing! Nothing! And his death is on you! You didn't listen and take him seriously!" Myriam pushed Klaus away from her and ran out of the house. She managed to grab Caroline on her way to likely Elena. She snapped Caroline's neck and dragged her off to Alaric's apartment.

"What are you doing?" Alaric was drunk off his ass and watched Myriam tie up Caroline.

"Eye for an eye, but I'm going to drag it out," Myriam said as she grabbed Alaric's bottle and took a swig from it. "Are you off vervain?"

"I don't want to deal with you guys anymore, leave me alone."

"You should have left Mystic Falls if you want to get rid of vampires…" she said before she sat down next to him. "I think that's an excellent idea, Ric," she said as she compelled him. "You should leave Mystic Falls, start a life somewhere else. Teach. Sober up. Live a life away from vampires."

"That sounds good."

"Take a break from Mystic Falls, Ric. Start packing your bags and find a place that's not here," she didn't break the compulsion just yet. "Heal. Go to your bedroom and sleep off the alcohol and leave. Tomorrow."

Alaric nodded, and Myriam broke the compulsion, causing him to look at her, confused. "Are you alright, Myriam?"

"No," she smiled at him. "But I will be. And so will you."

"Yeah," he nodded before pointing to the bedroom. "I'm drunk. I'm going to sleep it off. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Can I stay here for a while? With Caroline?"

"Yeah, sure," Alaric nodded as he got to his feet. "Good night."

"Good night, Ric," she smiled at him and watched him go into his bedroom. After she was sure he was gone and out like a light, she dug into his closets to find a bottle of vervain water that she knew he had, some cleaning gloves and poured it in a bucket before dunking rope in it and started to tie Caroline to the chair. She could smell the scent of burning flesh, and Caroline was groaning as she came to.

Myriam started to hum Neil Diamond's _Sweet Caroline_ as she grabbed a knife and began to make deep cuts to wake Caroline up even further before grabbing some vinegar and salt and started to pour that in the wounds, causing the young vampire to cry out in pain. "Shh, Ric's asleep."

"Myriam? What?" Caroline said weakly. "What are you doing?"

"Eye for an eye, sugar," Myriam replied as she squatted down in front of Caroline, waving around a big knife. "Elena and Jeremy killed my best friend. I'm going to return the favour. But I'm going to drag this one out and not give you the satisfaction of a swift death."

"Myriam… you don't have… you're better than this."

"Oh, no, sugar, I'm not," Myriam said as she gently ran a finger up and down Caroline's leg. "Hmm… shall I put a tarp underneath you? Nah, why bother?" She twirled around her knife as she looked up at Caroline. "You're not off the vervain yet, so I can't compel you to be quiet, but please keep your screams to a minimum."

She swiftly grabbed Caroline's leg and severed it below the knee, blood spurting everywhere, covering Myriam and the surrounding area, and Myriam just laughed as Caroline screamed like a little piggy. "Fantastic!" Myriam cheered as she got to her feet and tossed Caroline's leg on the couch before getting a salt-filled plate from the kitchen and put it against her open wound, causing Caroline to scream even louder. Her face was all red and puffy and so beautiful.

When Caroline passed out from all the excitement, Myriam quickly wrote a note saying Game On and headed to a neighbor with Caroline's severed leg and compelled the neighbor not to tell anyone where she was from and deliver the leg to Elena Gilbert before leaving out of town for a few days so that nobody could track her back to Alaric's building.

There were plenty of neighbours to compel anyway.

She returned to a still unconscious Caroline and slapped her cheeks. "Wakey wakey, we're not done yet, but you're bleeding out so nicely." When Caroline opened her eyes again, she was slightly unfocused but enough focus so Myriam could compel the young vampire. "Don't scream. You can cry, but you're not to make a sound. Alaric is asleep, and we don't want to draw attention to the neighbours. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she groaned. "Stop, Myriam, please, you don't have to do this!"

"We've been over this, Caroline. I'm so doing this. I don't have to, but I want to," Myriam picked up her knife again and started to cut off Caroline's blonde locks. "Oh… I think I'm going to send these to Klaus. You see, he thinks I'm to blame for Kol's death, but I'm not. He is. Because he didn't listen. And he likes you. He just keeps on saving you, doesn't he? Why is that? You're nothing special," Myriam said as she kept cutting Caroline's hair. "You're a dumb, blonde, cheerleader. What is so special about you, huh? Well, I guess you're special because you get saved by my husband a lot…"

Myriam took a few steps back to admire her handiwork. Caroline's hair was a mess. Some long bits, some shorter. She put the blonde hair in a doggy bag and compelled another neighbour to take this to Klaus. When she returned, Caroline was trying to get out of her vervained ropes, and Myriam grabbed a coffee cup, dunked it in the bucket that she had filled up with Alaric's vervain water and dunked it over Caroline's head. "Don't make me compel you not to move. I already don't prefer it that I told you not to scream."

The vampire was shaking, and Myriam was thinking about what her next move was going to be. She went back into the kitchen and found a pair of pliers. "Ohhh," she cooed as she walked back to Caroline and waved the pliers in front of her face. "What do you think I could do with this? You know, they usually use pliers to cut off fingers or toes… but… ah, I know!" She said all giddily. "Put your game face on, Caroline," Myriam compelled her and saw Caroline's face change. "Now keep it that way until I say otherwise."

Straightening herself up, she grabbed the mug she had used to pour vervain over Caroline's head and set it in Caroline's lap. Myriam pulled Caroline's head back and started to pull out her teeth, and her fangs. Caroline was squirming underneath Myriam's assault, and Myriam took extreme pleasure pulling out all those perfectly lined up teeth and putting them in the cup while humming _Sweet Caroline_ again.

"So much blood," Myriam hummed after she had pulled out every tooth and molar in Caroline's mouth. "Better rinse it out," she dropped her pliers and headed into the kitchen to get another cup and dunked it in her vervain bucket and poured it in Caroline's mouth. "You can turn off your vamp face now," Myriam smirked as Caroline spluttered and nearly choked on the vervain.

"Yeah, you're absolutely right, Caroline," Myriam agreed with the vampire in pain. "Time to have a drink!" She grabbed her bottle and sat down on the sofa, looking at the young vampire from her spot and took a swig of her bottle. "Your best friend killed mine," Myriam sighed. "You know, I had to miss him for a very long time, but I always knew that he was safe. In his box. And now…" she let out a dark chuckle. "My best friend is gone. Dead. Ashes. I'll never be able to speak to him again. Have fun with him. He's taught me so much over the years, and now he's gone. Poof! For the rest of my eternal life, I won't have my best friend. And I'm going to do the exact same to Elena. She'll have to miss you for the rest of her miserable life." She took another swig of the alcohol. "Ugh. Alaric should really invest in the better stuff, this is like drinking straight out of the gutter."

"Please…"

"Oh please," Myriam rolled her eyes at the young vampire, weakened by the loss of blood. "Relax, I'm going to take my time with you… although you're bleeding out so fast that I might have to speed things along and then spend days giving your bestie a pressie," Myriam chuckled then. "Bestie a pressie. My bestie won't ever give me a pressie again."

Sighing, Myriam got to her feet and ripped off Caroline's arm with a single jank. "You know, I wonder how soon your friends realised that you've gone missing. You think she'd like to receive your arm as a consolation prize? She could use it to hug herself!"

"Please stop… please…"

"Nope," Myriam said as she tore off Caroline's other arm and threw both of them on the sofa. "You're fading. I need to make the pain last for a while. Right until you die. Or you know, you could just turn it off, but I suppose you're too chicken to do that," she shrugged as she picked up her knife again and made a deep gash on Caroline's remaining leg, almost cutting it in half before scooping up some more vervain water and poured that into the wound. "To be honest, I thought you'd last longer," Myriam said slightly disappointed. "Ah, not to worry, Stefan's next. Or… ohh, what about your mom?"

"NO! No, please, not my mom…"

"Tyler then. I'll have to buy a muzzle, so he doesn't bite me, but Tyler is a good candidate. He's a hybrid. He'll definitely last longer than you."

"No!"

"Matt?" Myriam picked up the pliers again and pulled Caroline's ears off of her head. Then her nose before sighing deeply. "Okay, bored now," she said before punching Caroline's torso and ripped out her heart. "Oh, that'll make a pretty gift for Klaus!" She dropped the heart on the floor before going back into the kitchen to find some sandwich bags to wrap it up in. She wrote little notes for all the body parts before severing Caroline's leg and disconnected her head from her shoulders and wrote notes for them too.

After compelling more neighbours with set times to deliver the packages, Myriam could hear fire truck sirens driving fast through Mystic Falls and curious as what had happened, she followed the noise, only to see the Gilbert House going up in flames and a part of her made her happy about it. Elena didn't have a home anymore. But it was also the place where Elena and Jeremy had murdered Kol and Myriam couldn't go there.

She hadn't been as conspicuous as she believed she'd been, and Damon spotted her. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Myriam said evenly as she looked at the flames. "Did you do this?"

"No, Elena did. Jeremy's dead. It's his body that's inside the house."

"Oh," she said in the same tone of voice. "Did Silas kill him?"

"Yes."

"Ah. My condolences." She didn't mean it. Not at all, and that was very evident in her voice. Even Damon seemed to be taken aback by how cold she sounded. "You know who else is dead? My best friend. And guess what? He warned you about Silas, but did you listen? No."

"Myriam…" Damon sighed. "Elena and Jeremy did what they have to do to complete Jeremy's mark. You shouldn't have killed those vampires at the bar."

She looked up at him then. "If you had listened to us in the first place, Kol wouldn't have died! To… to use the excuse of 'he had to die' is lame and hurtful. Downright disrespectful, too. Why him? Because he's an easy target?"

"He was convenient. Why won't you come home with us?"

"Go to hell, Damon," Myriam shot at him. "Just so you know, Kol liked Jeremy as a potential friend. What he and Elena did to him, it's the ultimate act of betrayal."

"Shouldn't you help Klaus find Katherine or something?"

"I'm not going to do a bloody thing!" Myriam snarled before she remembered what she had done for hours previously. "However, I'm sure that in the coming day, you'll get some surprises delivered on your doorstep," and with that, she sped off, back to her home.

Ignoring Klaus, she headed straight to Kol's room, took a shower to rinse off the blood and laid down in his bed. His scent still lingered, and suddenly she was overcome with grief and started to sob. Just for a little while, she could be vulnerable. Mourning her best friend.

There was a knock on the door, and she could hear it open. "Love? Are you alright?"

"Leave me alone," Myriam replied as she rolled herself in Kol's blankets. "You have no right to ask me if I'm alright."

"On the contrary, I'm your husband," he said as he sat down on the bed, holding a bag. "What did you do to Caroline?"

She peeked out from underneath the covers and saw the bag that she had put Caroline's hair in as a present to Klaus. "I gave her a haircut, now, leave me alone. You're ruining this space."

Klaus sighed and nodded. "Very well, love. I'm just letting you know that I might be out of town for a bit. I have Katerina to hunt down."

Myriam felt anger rise inside of her again. She wanted to tell him that finding the cure was the least of his problems but bit her tongue instead. "Go away."

He planted a kiss on top of her head and left the bed, gently closing the door as he made his way out.

Myriam took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It was almost as if Kol was still with her. Almost. She sat up straight and looked around for a moment before realising that she could have him with her. Maybe it wasn't too late to use Voodoo to bind his essence to something. But would he want it though? Likely not. Sighing, she fell back down onto the bed. "You're lucky that I take your feelings into account, Kol," she muttered. "Binding you to me wouldn't do you any good, and that would be incredibly selfish. Just stay with me? I hope I did you proud with what I did to Caroline. I hope you saw that. I think I'll go for Stefan next, what do you think?" she added in a whisper before she allowed the tiredness to overtake her and drifted off in an uneasy sleep.

When she woke again, she found a message from Klaus on her phone that he was on his way back again, deciding to leave the chasing Katherine to Rebekah because he felt he needed to be home for his wife.

Myriam reluctantly went to get a blood bag to have something to eat before taking her ritual objects into Kol's room and started to do a few voodoo blessings for the dead and for Kol's protection, and she immediately felt somewhat better afterwards. Knowing that that was the only thing she could have done for her best friend, it felt right.

Klaus' screaming jostled her from her peaceful thoughts and energy, and she ran downstairs only to see him with his top off and trying to ram into a wall. "What are you doing?!"

Klaus wasn't paying attention to her as he stumbled through the living room, groaning and clawing at his back. She stopped him and made him look at him. "What happened to you?"

"Silas," he groaned. "He attacked me. He stabbed me with the White Oak Stake."

Myriam tried hard not to laugh as she looked at his back, seeing nothing. Silas was playing mind games. It was a good thing that she had decided to steer clear of the whole mess. "Can I say it?"

"Say what?"

"We told you so," she said as she let go of him and sat down in one of the chairs with a glass of bourbon.

"Aren't you going to help me?!"

"No. You'll live."

"I'm your husband!"

"And you're an idiot!" Myriam took a sip of her drink and watched as Klaus writhed against the fireplace mantle. "If only you used that brilliant mind of yours better. Perhaps you'd be less impulsive and jumping to conclusions."

"Myriam, please."

"No," she said firmly. "And you know why? Because I was trying to help you with Kol and you blame me for his death. I don't like to put the blame on you, but you were a factor in his death, Klaus, by pushing him away and telling him that he was crazy for believing in scary bedtime stories."

"I forgive you, please, help me."

"No," she said as she took her phone and called Damon. "Hey, where are you?"

" _New York, chasing after Rebekah and Elena. Elena has switched off. Why?"_

Myriam sighed as she made circular motions with her wrist to swirl the bourbon around in her glass. "Is Stefan home?"

" _No."_

"Thank you," she hung up on Damon and called Rebekah instead. "Hey Bekah, can you give me to Elena for a moment, please?"

" _You don't want to know how the hunt for Katherine is going?"_

"Nah," Myriam said as Klaus let out another yell in pain as he tried to dislocate his shoulder again. "And don't mind your brother, Silas is fucking with him."

Rebekah sighed as she handed the phone to Elena. " _What?"_

"I heard you turned your humanity off," Myriam sighed. "Such a pity. I think you need to rush home, there are a few time-sensitive presents waiting for you. You're gonna love them."

" _I'm not interested."_

"Ah, such a pity, perhaps I should ask Stefan to open the presents instead. Then he can call you with the good news."

" _Whatever."_

Myriam blinked at her phone as Elena had disconnected the call. "Wow, Stefan and Damon must have their hands full with that one. Did she do that because she lost Jeremy?"

"Who cares!" Klaus called out. "Help me! A piece of the White Oak Stake is still inside me!"

"No there isn't."

"Yes, there is!"

Myriam let out a breath. "Here we go again. Again with the not listening to your wife," she said as she finished her glass of bourbon and refilled it. "Anyway, in case you were wondering, I've performed a few voodoo rituals to protect Kol's spirit from harm from other spirits, and I've said a few prayers."

"And how is that going to help me!"

Myriam shrugged.

"And why did you call Damon and Elena?"

"Reasons," Myriam replied as she finished her glass in one go. "Speaking of those two…Once they all return, I'm going to bring home a guest and put him in our soundproof basement."

"You could help me, first!"

"My dearest husband," she sighed as she rose to her feet and approached him to ruffle his hair. "For Silas to be messing with you, you must have done something to piss him off. But what you're experiencing is not real. You don't have a piece of the White Oak Stake in you, and you're only hurting yourself. The sooner you realise that, the sooner you'll be fine."

"What?"

"He got inside your head," she smiled at him. "And here you thought you were telepathically sealed. Nope. Not for Silas. He's to be feared, Klaus. And my guess is that you poked the proverbial bear. He's the real big bad wolf here. So, calm down, and claim your mind back. I'll be upstairs."

~o.O.o~

Everyone returned two days later. Everyone, including Elijah. Who, much to her and Klaus' surprise had been fooling around with Katerina. Who, not to anyone's surprise, had been lying through her teeth to get Elijah's protection from Klaus.

Aaand, the cure.

Rebekah was whining, begging, for the cure. She wanted to be human again, start a family, much like Kol and Myriam had anticipated she'd wish to. The four of them were sitting at the table to have that discussion about Rebekah wanting the cure. Myriam wisely kept her mouth shut. "Elijah, being human means a fresh start," Rebekah said hopefully. "I can grow old and have a family and fill my days with meaning knowing that each day matters."

Klaus laughed then as he looked at his brother. "Well, that was poetic."

"Well, if you can provide us with a more compelling reason for wanting the cure, Klaus, please," Elijah invited him.

Klaus sighed then and folded his hands on the table as he shifted. "I suppose we've now established that the crazy ramblings of our brother weren't that crazy after all."

Myriam huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Silas can appear as anyone," Klaus continued. "He got inside my thoughts, convinced me I was dying. He will torment me until I give him the cure."

"And, in doing so," Rebekah interjected with a sigh. "He will break down the wall to the Other Side."

"So it doesn't trap him there when he dies," Klaus shot at her before motioning with his hand, trying to prove a point. "He wants to reunite with his lost soulmate." He then looked at Elijah with a cheeky smile on his face. "You, of all lovesick fools, should applaud his devotion."

"He will open the floodgates for every supernatural being that has ever died!" Rebekah retorted.

"Including our dear brothers Kol and Finn," Klaus countered. "We'll have our family back."

"Yeahhh, I'm not going to sit here and not to tell you 'I told you so'," Myriam said as she got to her feet. "Have fun squabbling, I'm going to see if the Salvatores and Elena liked my present."

She spat off to the Salvatore House and giddily entered the house where Damon and Stefan were having an argument about Elena. "Oh, poor Elena, still with her humanity switched off, what can we do? Oh, what can we do?" Myriam sang as she leaned against the doorpost. "Hello boys, liked my present? Oh wait, did you like my many presents?"

"You killed Caroline," Stefan said as he ran up to her and pushed her against the wall, his vampire face out as he was so angry, causing Myriam to just laugh. "What?!"

"You're cute," she said as she ruffled his hair. "Now, let me go."

"Why did you kill Caroline? Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Hmm… well… no doubt the Sheriff is sad that her vampire daughter got herself killed… and oh, no doubt that Elena is refusing to turn on her humanity even more!"

"The sheriff is on the warpath, Myriam! She thinks it's one of us, what would you do if I told her it was you?"

"I'd kill her," Myriam replied as she pushed Stefan away from her and snapped her fingers. "Just. Like. That."

"Oh great," Damon groaned. "As if we didn't have our hands full with a baby vamp with her humanity switched off, there's now an old one too!"

"Sugar, I have not turned my humanity off," Myriam purred. "Eye for an eye. Elena and Jeremy killed my best friend, I killed hers. And I think I'm going for one of her ex-boyfriends next," she smiled as she snapped Stefan's neck, hoisted him over her shoulders and ran off with him to throw him in the soundproof and vampire proof basement underneath her home.

Round two.


	23. Chapter 23

She chained Stefan up in the little holding cell that she had installed and walked over to the cabinet where she kept some of her tools. The only person who'd be aware of this dungeon would be Klaus, as she had kept the werewolf Mason Lockwood in there previously for Klaus to turn. Sadly, Klaus had killed him when he killed 12 of his hybrids.

Such a pity.

She was happy to find her vervain in there, and even a little bit of werewolf venom that she had snuck out of Mason that one time. He hadn't liked the experience much, but she fed him when she didn't forget, so he had to pay up.

But her favourite was the baseball bat. It was made out of aluminum, and it had been a present from Kol, and it was just perfect for Myriam to use it to get rid of some of her anger towards Stefan. He had it coming. He had it coming for so long, she could feel the anticipation bubbling underneath her skin. Would she be as mean as feeding him human blood to heal up? How about no blood at all?

"Wakey wakey," Myriam sang as she circled around Stefan, twirling her bat once he started to come to. "Ah, there you are," she smiled at him. "Good boy."

"Myriam, what are you doing?" Stefan sighed as he hung from the chains.

"Doing what I should have done a long time ago," she said as she swung the bat and hit him in the stomach with it. Twice. Maybe three times. Or four times. Ah, who cared? She lost count at some point. "That, that was for getting involved with Katerina and for turning your brother into a vampire in 1864."

Stefan groaned and tried to get out of the chains. However, Myriam had them spelt by a witch from New Orleans, so there was no way he was getting out without Myriam's assistance. "He forgave me!"

"Well, I didn't!" Myriam countered angrily. She swung the bat once more before discarding it and opting for a knife. "Now… let's see… what was next?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why does anyone does anything?" Myriam shrugged as she circled Stefan and thinking about her next move. "Oh, just so you know; my humanity isn't switched off. I'm merely doing what I have wanted to do for so long but refrained because it wasn't necessary. And it still isn't necessary. But I can. And I want to."

"That's not…"

"A good enough reason?" Myriam barked out a laugh as she stabbed Stefan in the back. Literally. "Tough," she spat at him before placing the knife on his skin, barely piercing it before tracing around him with it as she walked around him. "Next. You killed Zak Salvatore. Your uncle. Your amazing uncle who was willing to take a barren widow into his home and care for her. He was selfless. Modest. Harmless. And you killed him before it was his time to go."

"Myriam, you need to stop," Stefan groaned.

"I don't need to do anything!" Myriam said furiously. "I'm tired of men telling me what I need to do. I'm no longer listening, because nobody was listening when Kol and I came back from our search for more information about The Five and Silas. You all thought he was insane and now look what happened! Silas is on the loose and already messing with you lot!"

"You don't have to do this."

"I have to. And you know why? Because your precious ex-girlfriend and her brother killed my best friend. So I killed her best friend, and now I'm going to kill you. Might go for Liz Forbes next. Or Tyler. Or even Damon, because you were all in on the plan to kill Kol, weren't you?"

"It was necessary!"

"Bullshit!" She plunged the knife into his abdomen and wiggled it around a bit before turning it. She could hear his skin rip and bones crush and Stefan yelled out in pain. "Oh, yell all you want, pup, nobody will hear you."

"Stop!"

"No," Myriam growled as she grabbed one of the vervain syringes and started to clean out his wound with it. "Heal up. I'll be back after I've had a snack," she said as she cleaned up the tools and headed upstairs.

"There she is!" Damon knocked her against the wall. "Give my brother back!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Myriam said as she looked at Damon. "What would I possibly want with your brother?"

"Exactly!"

She looked at Klaus, all confused. "Am I missing something here?"

"Damon came to us saying that you took Stefan in a fit of rage, and he wants Stefan back."

"But I don't have him."

"But you went out, what did you do?"

"After I checked that the brothers got my presents, I left to have a little feed and came straight home," she sighed. "Honestly, just because I killed your beloved Caroline doesn't mean I'm on a killing spree."

"You did what!"

"Oh, she didn't tell you, Klaus?" Damon teased him. "She sent Caroline to us in bits."

"Eye for an eye. You kill my best friend, I kill yours. How's Elena? Still not switching back?"

"Bitch."

"Jerk," Myriam said as she managed to get free from Damon and headed to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, but she could hear Klaus, Elijah and Damon talk in the other room.

"It's quite possible that you weren't seeing Myriam but Silas instead," Klaus explained to Damon. "Silas got inside my head too, convinced me I was dying."

"It was Myriam," Damon assured him. "Silas was busy with Bonnie, pretending to be Jeremy, dude can't be in two places at the same time."

"Can't he? We don't know if he can't," Klaus countered. "But I shall keep an eye out for your brother. If I find him, I'll make sure to return him to you. Right now I need to have a chat with my wife about Caroline."

"Wait with that until I'm out. Don't want to risk her tearing me apart for my affiliation with Elena," Damon said before the sound of a door opening, and closing could be heard.

Myriam walked out of the kitchen as she sipped on her blood bag and looked at Klaus. "What? You're hurt because I killed that cheerleader? I have already killed her, and she came back. She always had a target on her back and not because of you."

"Sweetheart, that cheerleader might have been a pain in everyone's ass for various of reasons, but she and I were actually talking about you most of the time. She gave me…" he sighed as he cast his eyes downward. "I have to admit, I was taking relationship advice of a 17-year-old hopeless romantic, and she told me that if I wanted to make things right with you, we needed to do more things together."

"You wanted to come back upon hearing about the Cure, Klaus. You have your priorities all wrong," she pointed out. "And as I said, Caroline was always on my shitlist. I took extreme pleasure with taking her apart and sending her in bits to Elena and the Salvatores. You got her hair because you liked it. They killed my best friend, I killed theirs."

"I could have helped."

Myriam looked at him in shock. "You did not just say that."

"I could have helped because you're right. Eye for an eye and all that. I love that kind of revenge. There isn't any better kind of revenge than that. Although I would have gone for one of the Salvatore brothers seeing as Kol was my brother and all."

Myriam was speechless. She didn't know what to say.

"There is a reason why our family was feared for so many centuries," Elijah piped up. "We all liked our revenge, we all liked to play with our victims and their families."

"Yeah see," Myriam waved her blood bag around. "I don't see that. I mean, Kol and Klaus told me the stories and all, but the only dangerous one of you lot is… was Kol."

"Niklaus and I did calm down somewhat over the years, admittedly. Power isn't everything, and to be feared makes life a whole lot difficult. As you yourself have experienced ever since Niklaus came back to Mystic Falls. Your so-called friends didn't like you anymore."

"I never claimed them to be my friends. I tolerated them, but I was hurt by their treatment of me when they learned I was Klaus' wife," Myriam snarled. "I would have raised this entire town to the ground years ago if it weren't for safekeeping his precious doppelganger who's now a vampire so yeah, I don't know what's stopping me now," she sighed before she looked back at Klaus. "Speaking of which, your doppelganger is useless now. Kol's dead. He died here. What the fuck are we doing here still?"

"The cu-"

"Fuck that!" Myriam spat at him. "You know, maybe I should take a page out of Elena's playbook and turn it all off. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, love."

"Why?" Myriam challenged him. "You think you won't be able to handle me?" She huffed then and shook her head. "Whatever. Go and talk amongst yourselves, I'm going back to our guest in our basement."

"What guest?"

"Stefan Salvatore," she said simply. "Do you want to join me? You did say you wanted to kill a Salvatore brother for killing your brother, now is your chance."

"But you just said-" Elijah said surprised.

"Hey, did you know? I've been living with a bunch of unstable vampires for the last 300 years and am even married to one! I know how to lie, Elijah," she replied as she took a sip from her blood bag. "Are you coming, husband of mine?"

"Niklaus, don't," Elijah warned him. "I implore you…"

"You know the reason why we're not a menace anymore? It's because of Elijah. He wanted us to behave," Klaus said as he put an arm around his wife. "And if my wife wants to do a little bit of murder and mayhem, then she shall get it. And I still stand by the fact that you should have invited me when you were dismembering Caroline. I would have loved to see you taking her apart."

Myriam smiled widely as she sloppily kissed him and dragged him off to the basement where Stefan was still hanging from the chains. "I used a lot of vervain on Caroline. You know, on her open wounds and after I pulled out her teeth, I rinsed her mouth with it, too."

"Klaus, you need to stop her."

"I don't need to do anything, Stefan," Klaus said as he joined his wife in the little dungeon. "Well, what I do need to do is listen to my wife more often. And to my idiot brother that you and your co-conspirators had killed."

"It was a means to an end! He and Myriam killed the vampires you created for Jeremy."

"It's still not an excuse."

"Caroline gave the same excuse, actually," Myriam piped up as she grabbed the baseball bat and swung it at Stefan's knees, breaking his legs in an instant. "You know, Klaus, they all consider themselves to be so moral, while it's okay to kill someone loved by an acquaintance of theirs. They see you as the bad guy but what does it make them, though? At least you're always consistent. They're not."

"And I'm the least of their worries love, they obviously need to fear you."

Myriam beamed then. "Aww, thank you Mon LouLou!" She then hit Stefan again with the bat. "Grab a knife! Have some fun! Take your revenge!" She encouraged him as she picked up the knife and held it out for Klaus. "I mean, killing him swiftly would be merciful, but he doesn't deserve mercy. Not for all of the things he did. Like Caroline, Stefan always had a target on his back for what he did in 1864."

"He was my friend, once."

"Oh, you just liked him because he was a ripper," Myriam rolled her eyes at him. "There are plenty of those."

"Although, I do wish to return to New Orleans and could use someone like him."

"You don't need anyone but yourself to take back your city, Klaus," Myriam kissed him sweetly on his lips. "You're the big bad wolf. It's time you get your balls back. You're the King. You're my King. We're done with playing nice."

Klaus nodded and smiled wickedly before taking hold of Stefan's almost healed up leg and pushed the blade inside of the leg before using it to carve around it and break off the bone. "Shall we send him back in pieces just like we did with Caroline, love?"

Myriam thought for a moment as she looked at Stefan's severed leg. "To be honest, wouldn't it be nice to have a bunny eating vampire on one leg? Imagine the insults. Pirate Stefan. Ohh maybe we should pop out one of his eyes for good measure! Then compel him and send him on his way!"

Klaus looked disappointed for a second but then realised the fun this could be. "It could prove quite the entertainment."

"Exactly!" Myriam smirked. "As much as I want the guy dead, I think it's better if he gets ridiculed. More fun."

"Love, you are quite diabolical. Are you sure you don't wish to join me in New Orleans while I take back the city?"

She bit her lip then. "I don't know, Klaus," she admitted. "I love New Orleans, and I love Débauche, but… there are so many good memories of Kol there. And bad ones, like the time he set fire to my club but… it's too fresh. I'll join you when I'm ready."

"But I will not allow you to stay here in Mystic Falls by yourself either."

"I have Rebekah! And when she decides to join you, I'll find somewhere else to live. Who knows? I might pull a Katherine and find and compel an entire town to like me!"

"Are you sure?"

"I am not running."

"I'm not saying that you are," he pulled her close and kissed her. "But I want you to be sure."

"I'm sure. I need to heal, and I can't do that in New Orleans. Here, the pain is less despite him being murdered here but…"

"I understand," he smiled at her. "I'll make New Orleans ours again, and when you're well and ready, you can join me by my side, as my Queen. Because you are just that. My Queen."

"You're leaving tonight, aren't you?"

He slowly nodded before Myriam dropped the bat and pulled the knife out of Klaus' hands and jumped him, making him stumble against the wall as she kissed him. "Love me."

"Oh no…" Stefan groaned.

~o.O.o~

A few days later, Myriam was all alone in her house. Klaus had set off for New Orleans, and Rebekah was out, having fun with her friends. Myriam knew that she had built the house and had lived in it by herself just fine, but now with everyone gone, she had the feeling of it being an empty nest. It was big and lonely. Myriam had surprised Elijah by daggering him, and she had unceremoniously dumped him in his coffin. Elijah was a bad influence on Klaus and Rebekah. A very bad one and they didn't need him.

She hadn't gone outside in a few days, merely to stop herself from lashing out again and instead had spent days on the sofa with bottles of alcohol and a compelled human standing in the corner of the room so she could have some fresh blood when she wanted it.

She loved watching all three Gordon Ramsay shows on television. There was one with a hotel, and she was just appalled by the state of the hotels he was going to try and fix. _Kitchen Nightmares_ put her off from dining out for the rest of her life and _Hell's Kitchen_ was adorably sadistic.

She watched _Toe The Line_ , a celebrity dancing competition, for shits and giggles when drunk and that was usually followed by _Glee_ , and she danced and sang along. When she was drunk. If she wasn't, she changed channels.

 _Supernatural_ was… entertaining. They had everything wrong about the supernatural, apart from maybe the demons. They were… slightly accurate. But it also made her miss that part of herself, her demons, and she usually ended up crying and drowning her tears in an entire bottle of vodka.

She switched channels at some point and had to blink twice because there was an actor on TV looking exactly like Elijah and he got blown up by a bomb. Causing her to cheer and throw popcorn around while she danced like crazy. Then rewound it, filmed it with her phone and sent it off to Klaus. _For your enjoyment. This actor looks like Elijah. Kaboom!_

A few minutes later, Klaus sent a message back. _Are you glued to the idiot box? Go outside! Have fun!_

 _But the idiot box is fun. Don't worry about me._

 _I am._

 _Don't._

 _Very well. Xxx_

Now, one of Myriam's latest additions to her TV line up was a show called _Ghost Adventures._ Three idiots who willingly locked themselves up in a haunted building. What could go wrong? Two of said idiots were quite easy on the eyes, and she couldn't look away from it.

And at some point during the evening as she watched some of her TV shows, a freak storm erupted outside. "What the hell?" Myriam muttered as her TV switched off and all the lights went out. She swung open the door to the back garden and felt a strange sensation in the air, and she knew it was wrong. It wasn't good. She quickly closed the door and grabbed a handful of her dark objects to surround herself with it before grabbing her phone and started to read a book on her phone instead.

She wasn't scared.

Myriam wasn't sure for how long she'd been reading, but the front door opened and when she looked, she saw Kol walking in. "Kol? Is that really you?"

Kol smiled widely as he sat down next to her on the sofa and pulled her into his arms. "The veil has been dropped, not for long and it's not completely open, but you're still in the triangle."

"Really?" She poked him to make sure he was real. "You're here?"

"Don't look so surprised, darling, I just told my sister how much I appreciated her 24 hour mourning period and how someone who's not a blood relative is still having trouble with my death," he kissed the top of her head. "Great job on taking revenge."

She smiled then. "Yeah?"

"I'd rather have killed Elena. Are you joining me?"

"Really? You get to spend time with people you love for only a short period of time, and you want to kill Elena?" Myriam looked up at him. "She's still under Stefan and Damon's protection, even though one of them has to regain his balance. And with the veil dropped, with you here, what about Jeremy? He'll be protecting her wherever she is."

"Well, how about you and I go on a little scavenger hunt? For old time's sake? I take care of Elena, and you get to beat up Jeremy Gilbert. He's no longer a hunter. He's dead. So even if you'd kill him again, no curse!" He said excitedly before motioning around her. "You need to stop drowning yourself in alcohol, Myriam. You need to find something you're passionate about. Make new friends."

"You were my friend."

"And I still am, but I'm dead. And I'm telling you I won't get jealous if you find someone new. Someone that can complete you as I did. But before you do, let's have one last hurrah."

Myriam sighed. "Fine. Because the TV isn't working and I want to spend time with you."

They found Elena crying at Jeremy's headstone in the cemetery. "Hello, old friend," Kol greeted her, causing Elena to turn around to face Kol and Myriam. "Pity about your brother. I guess it's just the three of us now." He rushed at Elena and started to hit her. And then kicked her, causing the vampire to cough. "Now this is what I've missed: two people connecting," he said as he kicked her again. "It's lonely on the Other Side...and I swear being invisible will drive you mad. The way you couldn't see me standing in front of you, or feel my breath on your cheek as I whispered all the ways that I wished for you to suffer."

"Let me have at her," Myriam said as she pulled Elena up from the ground and squeezed her neck. "You're the reason why I have to miss my pets. You're the reason why Kol's lonely on the Other Side," she said as she squeezed a little tighter.

"Go ahead, Myriam. Kill me. You'd be doing me a favour."

"Ah, but I won't kill you," she said as she tossed Elena into Kol's arms. "He is! He deserves this kill!"

Kol dropped Elena and caught a flying stake. Both he and Myriam turned to see who fired the stake and realised it was Jeremy. "How many times do I need to kill you?"

"Jeremy Gilbert...Welcome back. Now, what's the saying? 'Kill me once, shame on you. Kill me twice, shame on-"

"Me," Myriam said as she launched herself at Jeremy and pulled broke his arm so he'd release the crossbow before she took a bite out of him and plunged her hand into his chest to rip out his heart. The boy dropped to the ground, and Myriam sighed. "Shame he's already dead."

"Feel better, darling?"

"Tons." She turned around only to see Kol's neck being snapped and him falling to the ground as well, revealing the eldest Mikaelson brother; Finn. "Oh come on! Leave your brother alone!"

"You two need to stop killing, Myriam. You're only going to allow it to consume you. First Caroline, then mutilating Stefan and now you're killing a ghost?"

"Fuck off, Finn," she said as she looked at Elena. "You'd better leave before I kill you myself, you little bitch!" She then picked up Kol from the ground and took him home, and she was going to keep him there until the veil went back up again.

They had caused enough trouble and mayhem now, and Myriam wanted Kol all to herself. She'd chain him up in the basement if she had to. Maybe that was a good thing to do anyway. There was no doubt that the everyone who had a bone to pick with the Scoobies would come back or were back too, and Kol would be the perfect ringmaster. She didn't care about the town, but she was selfish, and Kol was now hers.

She dropped him in the basement and closed the door of the dungeon with a dark object in front of it to make sure he wouldn't be able to open the door when he came to. Oh, he was going to be pissed, but she didn't care.

"Darling?"

"Yes, _mon chou_?"

"Why am I locked in here?"

Myriam leaned against the door and smiled at him. "Because I'm selfish. Those people who were sacrificed in the name of Silas will be able to take their revenge themselves, they don't need you for it."

"But I'm so good at revenge."

"And so am I, but I've missed you, and I'd like to spend my time with you instead you getting yourself into trouble."

"I'm already dead, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Do you have any idea how much I've missed you?"

"I do. As I said, I watched you grieve and take your revenge. Good call on Stefan and daggering Elijah, he really didn't see it coming!" Kol laughed as he got to his feet. "And as much as I appreciate you mourning me, you really should move on as my siblings did. I do not wish for you to miss me as much as you're doing right now."

"Kol…"

"Three hundred years is a long time to be friends, I know that and I feel your love and your grief over on The Other Side. Your grief hurts, Myriam."

"I'm sorry…"

"Do what you told Alaric to do. Leave Mystic Falls. Don't look back. Heal. And once you've healed and are ready to face New Orleans, be the Queen that Nik and I both know that you are. Run Débauche and give Isabella some time off."

She sighed as she opened the door to his cell and hugged him tightly. "But I don't want to let go of you."

"You have to, darling, it'll tear you apart if you don't." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He then let out a long sigh. "Very well, I won't join the other spirits in their revenge against the town, let's have a good old fashioned party with lots of booze, girls and alcohol."

"And good music."

"Of course," he smiled at her and followed her upstairs before turning on the radio and grabbing a bottle. "Now, how are we going to get people in your house when everyone's running scared?"

Myriam shrugged as she took a swig of her bottle and started to dance along to Bon Jovi's _You give love a bad name._ A party with Kol was just what she needed, even if it was only going to be a private one, to give him a proper send off.


	24. Chapter 24

After the veil was put back up and Kol was back on The Other Side, Myriam gathered her things and did as Kol had wanted her to do; try to move on. Just like she had told Alaric. What better way was there than to hang out with Alaric?

She drove up to McKinley after finding out where he was and even though the campus was closed for the Summer, Ric had an apartment close by. She knocked on the door and funnily enough, the door opened and revealed a very stunned looking Alaric. "Myriam? What are you doing here?"

"Following my own advice to you?"

"You didn't give me any advice," he said confused.

"Right, because I compelled you to leave and move on… right…" she sighed as she leaned against the door post. "Anyway, I needed to leave Mystic Falls after… everything. For all I care that entire town gets swallowed up by the Earth. I can't join Klaus in New Orleans because… ah well. So I decided to come here."

"And what's your plan? Enrol in college?" Ric let out a chuckle. "Have you even been to school in the last 300 years?"

"No… but there must be something else I can do? Break legs? Make people run? Smack heads on the table? Ohhh, I could be like you! And be a teacher!"

"And what do you think you could be teaching? You said it yourself; you've never gone to school!"

"I run a successful business, Ric."

"There's already a teacher teaching economics and math."

"Well…" she thought for a moment. "I know about demons and how they operate and how to control them as a demonologist… I know Voodoo… and I think I remember some magic from when I was a witch."

"Not going to happen, either. I'm the Occult teacher at this college." Ric could see that Myriam was trying hard, but she was a vampire, and the last thing he'd heard from Damon that she had been off the rails. Not quite as much as Elena, but she was unstable. "What do you truly want, Myriam?" He wasn't going to invite her into his apartment just yet, although he believed that she wouldn't do anything to harm him because he'd never hurt her. "What do you need?"

She looked at him then before huffing. "Forget it," she said as she turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Let me go."

"No. Tell me what you need, and I'll help you. That's the least that I can do for you after you saved my ass… twice."

"I don't need anything," Myriam countered. "Forget it. I thought I'd… I don't know. I'll find it somewhere else."

Alaric could see the defeated look on the newly Original Vampire, and that was sad, really. Pathetic, that too. "You need someone to talk to? Talk about Kol?"

"Don't."

"What do you want, Myriam?"

"I want a purpose!" she eventually blurted. "I want a purpose, and I want to get rid of the way that I'm feeling, like… extremely on edge and willing to kill just about anyone to make me feel better for a couple of minutes. Because everything's been so unfair!" Myriam then started to cry. "Nobody wants me anymore apart from my husband, and I can't go to him feeling like this!"

"Okay," Ric said as he put an arm around her and smiled. "Come in, I'll help you."

How on Earth was he going to help a 300-year-old vampire who recently became an Original? Sure, he knew how to deal with grief, but the way that Myriam was expressing her sadness was completely different than he had done. She opted for the revenge route because that's what supernatural beings did and could, he had launched himself into becoming a vampire hunter instead.

She was right, she needed a purpose. But for now, she needed a shoulder to cry on. And that's what she did. Two days straight. And Alaric felt uncomfortable. So when Myriam had finally gone down for a nap, he called Damon.

" _Ric! How's college treating you, buddy?"_

"It's the Summer holiday, and I know I promised I'd come and help you look for Stefan but…"

" _Why are you whispering?"_

"I have my hands full at the moment, and I could use your help."

" _My help?"_

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I discovered that one of my students is a vampire. She has been for quite some time, and a couple of months ago she and her family had a run in with one of the Five."

" _Okay?"_

"Her parents died, and she has been having difficulties with dealing with their grief."

" _Easy. Kill her if she's a pain in the ass."_

"Damon, come on."

" _I don't know! Tell her to get on with it or whatever! Grief is a part of life. Parents die. It's life. Hey, did you know? Bonnie resurrected Jeremy."_

"Yeah, you told me. That's great. Okay, thanks for nothing buddy, I guess I'll try to fix her."

" _Good luck. Don't get yourself killed. And if you want me to kill her, just let me know."_

Ric hung up and grabbed his laptop. Granted, Myriam had wanted a purpose, she had told him so herself, but what could she do? He wasn't sure if Myriam was ready to be released into the world, roam the campus by herself. Myriam wasn't the collected vampire that she was previous to Kol's death and her husband's somewhat negligence. She had done everything for Klaus for years, and now that her mission was complete, she didn't have anything to do anymore.

It was sad to see her having given up. She was better than this, and he knew this, not because of what he had seen of her so far, but because he had felt it when she and her demons cleansed him from his dark self. He wasn't sure if she'd been aware of it, but he certainly was. And she was a beautiful person. And she needed help.

Rules. She needed rules. Restrictions. Parenting.

But first, he needed sleep. Seeing as she was in his bed, he took the couch.

~o.O.o~

The rules were simple enough. Myriam understood that if Ric was going to help her out, she'd have to follow his rules. Which was fine. No feeding on humans. They were going to keep the apartment clean together; that included using the vacuum cleaner and doing dishes. Laundry. She wasn't to use her vampire strength or speed, and she had to keep a journal where she'd write her thoughts and feelings in. Alaric was going to print out multiple things for her to write about in her journal every day.

And over the summer she was getting better. There was progress, but slowly and occasionally they took day trips with just the two of them. Antique book markets for books on the occult or to food truck festivals to gorge on food. Myriam ordered high-end bourbon for her and Ric to drink.

They did research to set up the curriculum for the next school year, and then Ric had a brainfart. "Why won't you become my TA for a while?"

"Your what?"

"Teacher's assistant. You help me set up lessons, you enforce school rules, help students with their work, or with problems they might have. You help me with keeping attendance and grading."

"Sounds boring."

"Or would you like me to enrol you in college as a student instead?"

Myriam opened her mouth to object before closing it again.

"You came to me for help, Myriam. I don't want you to be alone, and I think that you'll like the work," Ric smiled at her. "You love helping people when they deserve it. What better way to help me teach young, impressionable people?"

"I help people. That's how I started my business. We now help humans who were hurt by the Supernatural."

"But you haven't run that business for at least 100 years," Alaric pointed out. "You haven't actually properly interacted with humans for a long period of time other than making sure that people behaved like cattle for Klaus and breaking his curse. Most of your interaction has been with vampires. You can learn with the kids."

"But…"

"I trust you not to do anything stupid," Ric laughed. "Come on, it's going to be fun!"

"Fiiine," she sighed as she drank from her blood bag. "But if something goes wrong, it's on you."

"Nothing will go wrong, I trust you."

~o.O.o~

"Myriam, wake up," Alaric knocked on her door. During the summer Alaric and Myriam had cleaned out his spare room and created a space for Myriam with a bed and a fridge and just a place to retreat to so they wouldn't be on each other's lip all the time.

"What?" Myriam opened the door and looked at him as she cleaned her mouth from dripping blood.

"Were you out last night?"

"You'd know if I was but why do you ask?"

"A student got murdered during a party last night. Elena and Caroline were witnesses, and they saw that their friend was killed by a vampire."

"And you think it's me?" Myriam raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought you trusted me."

"Apart from Caroline and Elena, you're the only vampire on campus."

"That you know of," Myriam huffed. "It wasn't me! And I'm not going to help you find out who it was, either. You want me to live as a human, right? I'm not going to walk head first in danger. What do the police say?"

"That it was a suicide."

"Ah, cover-up."

"Exactly. Are you sure you don't want to investigate this?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay, good, get dressed, freshen yourself up, we have class in 30 minutes."

"What!"

"Chop chop, Myriam, can't be late for your first class!"

The teacher's lounge was quite something. While you had the serious and old professors, the younger ones just hung out and were on their phones or on their laptops. Alaric was happily chatting away with Dr Max Westfield. Oh, he made sure you called him doctor instead of Max because 'all those years of med school would be wasted' if he wasn't called Doctor.

Such a prick. Myriam didn't like him. Especially when she overheard Max talk to Alaric about Greyson Gilbert, Elena's father, who apparently taught a few classes at Whitmore College back in the day. It made sense because Greyson had been a doctor, but with him being a Gilbert it likely meant bad news, so despite her not wanting to do anything outside of what Alaric wanted her to do, she wanted to do her research for this one.

Gilberts were nuisances.

Over the next few days, she managed to piece together enough information about Greyson's time at Whitmore College and why Dr. Westfield was so in awe of him, a fanboy. Rumour was that both Westfield and Gilbert had been a member of a secret society called The Augustine Society and they used to perform experiments on vampires back in the day.

However, she wasn't so sure that it was all 'back in the day', seeing as Megan was killed by a vampire and Max Westfield had signed the death certificate, ruling it a suicide. It was obvious that he was hiding something.

She went back to Mystic Falls, with Alaric, for Remembrance Day. She wanted to ring the bell for Kol. Remembering him. For Zak. But she did it in the early hours of the morning, wanting to avoid the Scoobies as she'd likely rip everyone's throat out. Alaric stayed behind to experience the rest of the day and Myriam went back to Whitmore College.

She did surprisingly well if she had to say so herself. The knot in her stomach when thinking about Kol got less and less each day, and she tried to remember the good times she had had with him instead of the pain of his loss. When she got back to the apartment, she wrote in her daily journal to distract herself.

She had to admit that doing work for Alaric every day, every week, had appeared mind-numbing but she actually appreciated it. Myriam liked helping him prepare for classes and do the research along with him, she loved helping students out when they'd come to her for help - even though at the beginning she wanted to snap their little necks for disturbing her peace.

But what Myriam had learned, these kids were stupid, but they weren't as stupid as most of the Mystic Falls gang. These youngsters used their brain and partied. Did stupid stuff, sure, but once and then never again.

It was the end of September when Myriam was sitting in the park near the college with her journal and a large cappuccino to enjoy when Katerina sat down next to her. Myriam knew she wasn't Elena because she smelled like a human and she was told that Elena had shoved the cure down Katerina's throat. "You've got some nerve," Myriam mumbled as she closed her journal and looked at the former vampire. "What do you want?"

"Since becoming human, my priorities have… shifted. And Silas drained me from my blood, and I'm dying."

"Not my problem."

"No, I know, and I'm not here to talk about Silas," Katerina sighed. "Believe me, I don't want to tell you this but you've been through enough crap as it is, and truthfully, nobody but Alaric has been nice to you lately so… I want to make amends and be nice to you."

Myriam blinked then, deciding to wait for what was going to happen next. "Alright," she replied as she put her journal into her bag. "What do you want?"

"I know you've been digging into Greyson Gilbert and Dr Wes' infatuation with him," Katerina replied. "So has Elena. Little twerp nearly got herself killed to prove that she wasn't a vampire. Thing is, Wes is a member of a secret society here on Campus. The Augustine Society."

"I gathered that, but all campuses have a society, secret or not."

"The reason why it's secret is that they're doing research into vampires. Actual scientific research. They have an Augustine Vampire who does their bidding, and right now Dr Wes has a student there who was healed by Elena and now turned into a vampire."

"That's sick!"

Katerina nodded and sighed. "I made a deal with Wes. He checks out my blood and sees if he can stop the deterioration of my body and I…" Katherine watched as the Augustine Vampire snapped Myriam's neck and lifted her from her spot and hoisted her off. "I told him I'd get him a vampire."

~o.O.o~

She came to in a cellar and Wes was standing over her with a syringe. "Wes, what are you doing?"

"I didn't know you were a vampire, Myriam," Wes sighed as he squatted down and injected her. It felt like vervain. "But, I suppose that's alright, it's been a while since we've had female test subjects. And I'm giving you just enough vervain to keep you sedated. Don't worry, Katherine told me about your trick of drinking vervain every day, so you're getting a bigger dose until that's out of your system."

"I'm gonna kill you," she sighed and closed her eyes. "And her."

"Well, then it's a good thing that you can't do anything in your cell," Wes happily replied as he drew some blood from Myriam. "I've started something with Jesse. And I think that I'm so close to eradicating all the vampires… I think I'll experiment on you first before giving it to our loyal vampire next door." He pushed her hair out of her face. "And don't worry, you'll regain some movement in your limbs shortly."

"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Myriam said weakly. "They will come for me."

"Who?" Wes let out a chuckle. "Katherine told me you didn't have any friends left. That you alienated them all. No one's coming for you, Myriam, not even Alaric. But it's a good thing you're here. You see, Elena was taken from me as my patient, and I was about to do something spectacular to her, so I suppose you'll take her place. Tomorrow."

"Idiot," she groaned as he injected her with vervain again and some very strong sedative.

The next day she found herself strapped to a table with every safety measure in place, she couldn't free herself as she'd usually do and she was shot up with vervain. She was hooked up to some machine that was draining her of her blood, and she didn't understand what was going on. "Stop."

"Almost done," Wes chirped. "I'm surprised you're actually coming to instead of you know, passing out. Or continued to be unconscious. In the past, vampires have passed out for less," he said as he kept looking at his notes and his machine. "You're doing great, Myriam. You really are."

"What you doing?"

"Hopefully I'm going to make you stronger than you are now and give you a different diet. No idea if it's going to work, of course, but everything for science."

She tried getting out of her bonds again. "Stop."

"You're in no position to make demands," he said as he frowned. "How is it that you're appearing to make more blood still? I can't seem to drain you dry!"

Myriam sucked in a breath when Wes merely made a bigger opening for her blood to flow away quicker, and he even wedged something into the wound to keep it open. He gave her more sedative, and she passed out again before being awoken by the sensation of someone shaking her awake.

"Come on, love," Klaus said as he shook her. "Wake up."

"Klaus?" she opened her eyes and had trouble focussing for a moment, but she was indeed looking at her husband. "What are you-" she felt better. A lot better. "How?"

"Alaric called me, asking if you'd snuck off and had come home," he helped her sit up and kissed the top of her head. "I moved heaven and earth to find you."

"Did you kill him?"

"Kill who?"

"Wes?"

"Sadly, no," Klaus shook his head. "He ran the moment we kicked in the door, and I'm sorry darling, but you were so close to desiccation that you were my priority. We could go after the bastard later."

"I think he did something to me."

"Marcel, grab everything you and your vampires can carry," Klaus ordered him as he lifted Myriam off the table. After having fed her his blood, she seemed to be pinking up quite quickly. "Myriam's coming home."

"My bag. Did you find my bag?"

"Love, it's not important."

"My bag, Klaus," she insisted as she managed to look at Marcel who was holding up her bag. "Yes. Thank you."

"Alright, let's get you home, there's a car waiting out front."

"Why? Ric's apartment is close."

"You're not going back to Alaric's, sweetheart," Klaus said kindly. "He's the one who called me after you went missing, and he also told me you're ready to come home."

"No!" she said as she tried to get out of Klaus' arms. "I can't! What about the students! I need to stay here and help them! And Ric! You can't take me away."

Marcel let out a chuckle. "Well, she certainly has pinked up."

"I can't go, Klaus. We need to stay."

"You have no obligation to stay, love, you're coming home with me," Klaus said as he struggled to hold the weakened vampire. "Marcel, make sure you get the notebooks."

Myriam briefly gave up trying to get out of Klaus' arms. "I'm hungry."

"Come with me to the car and let's get you home," he said again and finally managed to get her out of the building and into the waiting car. "You're safe now."

Myriam snuggled up against him as they sat down in the car and Myriam closed her eyes. "He did something to me, I feel strange."

"You've been through a lot, of course, you feel strange."

"Why me? First, your mom and now this and… will Alaric be safe?"

"He's not a vampire, I'm sure he's safe."

"Because he can teach in New Orleans too. We need to keep him safe."

Klaus toyed with her hair before kissing the top of her head. "Rest, love."

She sighed. "I rang the bell for Kol on Remembrance Day."

"I think he'd appreciate that."

Her eyes shot open when Marcel entered the car with a few notebooks in his arms. "Alright, we're done. They'll meet us back in New Orleans, Klaus," Marcel reported before he looked at Myriam. "I know you don't like me, but stop looking at me like that."

"Shut up," Myriam growled at him as she put her arms around Klaus tighter. "I'll rip your heart out."

"You'll do nothing of the sort. Alaric said you were doing better, what made you go to him?" Klaus asked to distract her. She had never told him the reason why she had gone to him in the first place. It had been an odd decision in his mind.

"Kol told me to do the same thing I told Alaric to do," she sighed. "So I went to Alaric. And he helped me. And he's a great friend, I don't want to go to New Orleans yet."

Klaus wasn't surprised that Kol had somehow managed to give Myriam a message from the Other Side in her grief. "You're going. You can visit Alaric in a while."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Myriam sighed as she looked at Marcel again. Narrowing her eyes as they were driving towards New Orleans. She cocked her head, not understanding this hunger, this rage towards another vampire. It felt as if she was a young vampire drawn to human blood. "What did he do to me?"

"Well, that's what we hope to find out in these books."

"Start reading, Marcel," she growled at him.

Marcel blinked as he scratched his head. "Uhh, Klaus? Not because I'm afraid of her or anything but uh, she's never been openly hostile to me like this."

"She's been through a lot, Marcellus, leave her be."

"Why are we in a car?" Myriam looked up to Klaus. "We're going home?"

"We're going to the airport, love," he smiled at her. "Now rest."

"Stop telling me to rest. I'm hungry!"

"You'll get a stewardess on the plane," Klaus sighed. "You're trying my patience, love."

"Fuck you."

"Gladly."

She sat up and grabbed her bag, hugging it as they drove to the airport. She could feel something itching underneath her skin, almost as if she'd taken drugs - well, it was likely that she was shot up with something a few times because she remembered being awake when her blood was pumped out of her body, but she didn't feel right.

Myriam hurried into the waiting plane and quickly found herself a spot to write in her journal like Alaric had told her to. Whenever she was feeling off, she had to write it down to figure out what was going on. Maybe she could figure it out on her own. But wow, she was hungry. And there was so much rage that she wasn't sure if she wasn't going to hurt Klaus.

An hour after the plane had taken off, Myriam started to pace, clawing at her arms as she tried to calm down. "Did you find anything yet?"

"It's all medical crap," Marcel replied with a sigh. "We'll have to find someone to look at it."

"Not good enough!" Myriam shot at him.

"Easy, it's the best we can do right now."

Both Klaus and Marcel had left her alone during the last hour as she had looked so distraught, but right now she was acting like a caged animal trying to control herself. "Try harder!" Her vampire face briefly came to the surface, and Marcel paled.

"Uh, Klaus? When she turned into an Original, did her game face change or something?"

"Of course not."

"Because she didn't look right."

"Shut up, Marcel or I swear I am going to rip your head off your shoulders and shove it up your ass," Myriam ran towards him, smacking his head against the fuselage and couldn't help herself while she violently bit his neck and drank from him. Any attempts from Klaus trying to pull her off of his lieutenant caused Myriam to grab Marcel tighter, and the feeding was becoming even more of a bloody frenzy.

When she was done, she dropped Marcel's mangled and desiccated body and wiped her mouth before she realised what she had just done; she had fed on a vampire and felt satiated. "I-I didn't mean to but… he was annoying, and I was so angry and hungry…"

Klaus was quiet for a moment to process what he had just witnessed. Ripper behaviour. Vampire on vampire. "We still have three hours to go before we land," he said calmly, but worry etched on his face.

"I'm good, Klaus," Myriam said as she stepped over Marcel's body and sat down next to him. "I'm full, I'm feeling fine."

"But for how long? I can't have you eat all my vampires! What if you decide to take a bite out of Rebekah? Or me?"

"Well, you would live."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "We'll figure out what's been done to you and we shall find a cure. I promise."

"But I'm fine!"

"You just fed on and killed a vampire! That is not fine, and you know it!"

"I didn't like him anyway."

"That's not a good enough reason," Klaus argued.

"I couldn't help myself, Klaus," she shot at him. "I'm fine now. I'll be fine. Don't worry, I won't take a bite out of you."

"Sweetheart, this is serious."

"I'm not denying that."

"Do I have your permission to snap your neck if things get too out of hand?"

"Yeah, sure," she sighed as she reached for the wine. "And you're going to get a scientist or a doctor to take a look at that, right?"

"Yes. Don't worry, love, we'll fix this."

"And then kill Wes?"

"Of course."


	25. Chapter 25

"Well this is romantic," Myriam deadpanned as she came to in the dungeons. "Klaus! Really?"

"What do you remember from our flight home?" He moved so he could hand her a glass of blood.

"I killed Marcel - and I didn't mean to."

"And after?"

Myriam thought for a moment and shook her head as she gratefully took her glass of blood. It wasn't human blood, either. She downed the glass in one go and held out her glass for more. "That's delicious."

Klaus opened the door and pulled a chair in to sit with her. "I'm willing to give you my blood for as long as it takes, but since we don't know how long you can last on one glass…"

"I'm a lab rat?"

"Until we figure things out. I've already compelled a scientist to look over the papers that we brought from where we rescued you," he smiled at her. "So, you get one glass now, and once you feel itchy again, I'll fill up another."

"But I could just drink from you, it's not like I've not done that before."

"I'd like to stay in one piece, love. You mutilated Marcel. Now, while you won't be able to kill me, I don't want you to experience to see yet someone else ruined, if only briefly," he replied and motioned around. "You have a comfy bed, and there's even a desk for you with your bag on it. Why is it so important to you, anyway?"

Myriam sighed as she got to her feet and headed over to her bag to fetch something so she could show Klaus. She returned with her journal and handed it to him. "Alaric really helped me. This was his idea, to keep a journal. He gave me some things to write about. Every time I felt something, I had to write it down. He gave me stuff to write about," she then blushed. "You're the first one to read it."

He smiled at her and handed her the journal back, closed. "I don't need to read that, love. That's yours."

"Everything that I am, that I have, I share with you," she said as she pushed it back into his hands. "You can read it."

"Myriam…"

She took the journal and sat down on his lap as she opened her journal. "I know you ran to New Orleans, not only to claim it back for us but also because you were running after Kol's death," Myriam sighed. "And I'm sorry that I fell apart as I had, and that I couldn't join you here when you went. But, while I have lost a few people over time, only my mother's passing hit me hard and now…"

"I know, love," he kissed the top of her head. "And I'm sorry that I didn't know what to do with that grief, other than joining you and mutilate Stefan."

"Oh, that was fun," she laughed. "Can we do that again?"

"When you're feeling better," Klaus replied with a small smile as she kept paging through the pages and his eyes fell on some of the words. "All of us have acted out at some point or another. Whether it to be because of loss, or betrayal or simply because we could. And it's difficult to come back from that. The next time it'll be easier. And then it'll continue to get easier after that."

"But I don't want that, Klaus. It shouldn't get easier because then that life didn't mean anything. Didn't Kol mean something to you? He was your brother!"

"I got angry, of course, but I wasn't able to do something. Even Rebekah mourned for a full day," he replied. "I miss my brother, but to stop and think about his loss will not be any good. I'd tear apart a whole town if I allowed myself to. It doesn't mean that his life didn't mean anything." He then noticed something about the veil dropping and her taking Kol home. "What's this?"

"Oh!" Myriam laughed as she looked at the page. "That was the day that Bonnie lowered the Veil to The Other Side. So, all supernatural beings there could come back if they wanted to. She did it to find some witch, so yeah… it had some perks though. Such as Kol coming back for a few hours."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I was selfish," Myriam shrugged. "He wanted to incite all the supernaturals sacrificed for Silas and create mayhem, so I kidnapped him. Again. And then we had some fun until the Veil went back up. He told me to do as I told Alaric, to leave Mystic Falls and find some place where I could heal."

"And that's how you ended up with Alaric."

Myriam nodded and sighed. "You smell really nice. Can I have another sip?"

"Already?"

"You didn't give me enough to last very long," Myriam pouted. "Don't make me ask you again because I'll just take it."

"Really now?"

"Yes."

"You haven't said 'please'. You're being rude."

"Please?"

"Nah, you didn't mean that."

Myriam stood up and started to pace her cell. "It itches. I am so hungry, I need blood. Please, Klaus, give me your blood?"

"No," Klaus placed her journal on her table. "Behave yourself."

"I'm trying! Give me more!" Myriam begged. "Please! You said you'd take care of me, you need to give me more blood, Klaus, please!"

Klaus growled as he left her cell and closed the door before heading upstairs to fetch one of his vampires before throwing them in the cell with Myriam. It saddened him that a glass of his blood didn't satisfy her, but he wasn't going to allow her to drain him dry, either. Myriam looked like an animal as she snacked on Shep and she squeezed him like a capri-sun pouch. "I'll be back later, with hopefully good news. I can't release you while you're like this, I hope you understand."

"I can go and kill your enemies?" Myriam only briefly looked up from the body she was mangling. "You only have to tell me where they are and I'll happily tear through them."

Klaus paused then, for a short moment with a small smile on his face. "As much as I'd love to entertain that notion, it doesn't help you, my love."

"Neither does sitting here in a cage being fed vampires!"

"It'll have to do, I can't have you running around New Orleans like this. But I promise you, we'll have a fix for you shortly."

The scientist explained to him that for all intents and purposes, Myriam was a vampire ripper now. She was addicted to vampire blood and had little to no control over it. The scientist said that it'd likely take a while to make a cure, but that it was likely that Traveler witches were involved. Klaus hated the Travelers. Good thing that he knew a witch who knew of Traveler lore and hoped that he didn't need fancy doppelganger blood to heal his wife.

While he impatiently waited, he turned some petty thieves into vampires to feed to his insatiable wife. She kept complaining that she felt like a caged animal in a zoo so on day two he handed her her phone back so she could call Alaric to distract her. And that had also been a bad idea as she lost her temper and broke her phone.

By day three, Alaric showed up and safely sat outside her cell on a chair. "You look like hell."

"Klaus has been feeding me, but every time he does, I just want more…"

Alaric sighed and nodded. "Sorry you have to go through shit again, it's highly unfair."

"Isn't it? I mean, why me?" Myriam whined. "Although I did some pretty horrible things, so I suppose it's karma… And why did you come all the way to New Orleans, Ric? Don't you have classes to teach?"

Alaric shrugged then. "I can teach anywhere I want, and what better place to teach about the Occult than New Orleans? Maybe I'll pick up a thing or two."

"You're moving here?" she asked hopefully. "Really?"

"Yeah," he let out a snort. "I found this great apartment near campus, and they had an opening for a teaching position so why not? What are you going to do when you get fixed?"

"Ah, I have a legitimate business here in New Orleans. It's time that I run it myself again, and give my liaison her freedom. Although I never compelled her to stay and run the place for me but I think she deserves a long vacation."

"Yeah? Anything I can help with?"

"Maybe," she smiled. "Maybe not. We'll see. I'm just pleased that you're moving out here."

"So am I. Fresh start."

"Are you staying? Keep me company?"

"Sure," he smiled at her and pointed at her journal. "Here's one for you; write down how you're feeling about Dr Wes Maxfield being dead as a doorknob."

"He died?! But I wanted to kill him!"

"Damon killed him."

"For you. And for himself and Elena. They were infected too. However, their cure likely won't work on you, so that's why you're still in here."

"But…"

"You're an Original now, Myriam," Alaric reminded her as he poured himself a coffee from his thermos. "It won't work."

"Well… is Elena dead then?"

"No."

"Good," she said as she sat down at her table and started to write down her feelings like Alaric had told her to. "Then I can kill her instead."

"Myriam."

"I've never liked her, Ric."

"We've been over this before."

"I know that she's like a daughter to you, but she's a whiny, selfish and manipulative bitch, and she is already cured, and I'm not!"

Alaric sighed as he took a sip of his coffee. "If it makes you feel any better, at the rate that the children in Mystic Falls are going, they'll likely end up killing themselves."

"Not good enough!" Myriam yelled before her head shot up when Klaus came down with another vampire for her.

"Sorry about her mood," Klaus apologised as he pushed the vampire inside Myriam's cell and looked at Alaric. "She'll go back to her usual self after she's done with her feed. It's best if you look away," he said as he motioned for Alaric to follow him out.

"How are you holding up, Klaus?" Alaric said as they were stood in the hallway.

"The love of my life is infected by a virus that makes her want to eat vampires, and there's no progress in finding a cure for her, how do you think I'm holding up?"

Alaric nodded. "I may have a solution. Don't get your hopes up, but I think I know someone who might be able to help you."

"Really? I've moved heaven and earth to find a witch and a scientist willing to help me, and they're not getting anywhere, how do you think that your person will be able to?"

"On my travels for research into the supernatural, I came across a witch from an offshoot of the Traveler community. Her line can be traced back all the way to the beginning of the Travelers, but her line doesn't want to do anything with them. In fact, they started their own coven, the Gemini, of which she was ousted because of her lack of real magic. She's living in peace and helps people where she can when they're afflicted by magic. She's a siphoner," Alaric explained.

"That won't help because Myriam was injected with a scientifically engineered compound!"

"I've seen the research you've shared with me. The drugs that helped create the virus are nothing but glue and enhancers. It was created from a vampire that Westfield had conditioned to drink vampire blood only. That part is magic, and I believe that my friend can help her with that. Cleanse her body. Once that's done, her own blood will get rid of everything in her system that doesn't belong there."

"You think."

"What other choice is there? It's not as if Myriam can die from trying."

Klaus tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Very well. Call her. Ask her if she's willing to help. Not a lot of witches like us these days, it was Kol or Elijah who usually made nice with them and alas, Kol is dead, and Elijah will forever stay in his box. Thank you, Alaric."

"Of course, Myriam is my friend. She saved me once or twice, it's only fair if I return the favor, right?"

"You've saved her already and owe her nothing, it's commendable that you're still willing to help."

By day five, Myriam had given up. She was sat on her bed with her legs hugged to her chest and not moving an inch, only when a vampire was thrown in with her she looked up and forced herself not to go after it. It was simply better to desiccate at this point than to keep on going. Oh, she was still so very hungry, but this wasn't fair. When Klaus came in with another, she looked up. "Dagger me."

"I'm not sure that's going to work, love," he sighed and motioned at the still living vampires in her cell. "You have to eat."

"Dagger me."

Rolling his eyes at her, he stabbed the vampire he was holding and pushed him into the cell, causing Myriam to lose her self-inflicted restriction and attacked him. And then the other vampires. "Good, because we may have a solution and I was told you needed to be fed for the ordeal."

She paused long enough to reply. "Why didn't you say something!"

"Because I wasn't sure that Alaric managed to convince this person to come over as our reputation usually proceeds us," Klaus replied. "But this one didn't seem to be scared or offended or against us and knew of Kol. Upon hearing that he was your best friend, the witch was willing to travel to New Orleans. His name still opens doors to some witches."

"Alaric?"

"He cares about you, love, and normally I'd be very jealous, but I'm not in the mood."

"What's wrong?" she cocked her head as she looked at him, finally noticing that Klaus wasn't looking too good. "You look like you're sick."

"Just some arguments with werewolves, don't you worry about me."

"I'll kill them for you," she smiled as she leaned against the door. "Where do they live?"

Klaus looked at her for a moment, considering what his options were. Granted, Elijah said he'd take care of it, but Myriam would be faster. "They're not vampires, love."

"I don't care. I have a lot of rage, I'll kill them for you, and then I'll come back, I promise."

"And can you promise not to go after vampires?"

Myriam sighed. "No…"

"Then you're staying here until Alaric, and his witch cured you."

"Yeah, just for the record," a female voice sounded as footsteps could be heard. "I'm not his witch, and I'm definitely not yours, Niklaus Mikaelson."

"And here they are," Klaus smiled at Myriam before looking at Alaric and his witch. "Welcome. And thank you."

"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for her," the brunette said as she walked past Klaus and held out her hand through the bars for Myriam to shake. "I'm Jeri."

"French?"

Jeri smiled at her. " _Oui_."

"I like you already."

"I don't like vampires like any other witch, but Kol Mikaelson is a legend. I never had the pleasure to meet him myself, but if it's true what Alaric says and you are a former witch and Kol Mikaelson's best friend, I am willing to help you," Jeri replied. "Plus, you're kinda cute."

Myriam's curiosity of the witch immediately dimmed as she scowled at the girl. "I'm taken."

Jeri laughed. "I know that, _petite fille_ , but it doesn't hurt to flirt. Now, give me your hand."

"I am not a little girl!"

"Myriam!" Klaus raised his voice, tired of his wife's predicament. "Now is not the time."

Myriam pouted as she pushed her arm through the bars. "When I am fixed, I will fix you, _mon LouLou._ "

Jeri let out a snort as she grabbed Myriam's hand and put her other hand on her arm. "Woah."

"What?"

"You've got some serious ju-ju, lady," she replied as she looked at Myriam before letting go of her. "Wait, there's more than just that virus, isn't there?" Jeri took a step back and looked at Alaric and Klaus. "Because I feel that she's not a normal vampire."

Klaus let out a sigh as he sat down on the steps. Tired. "My mother turned her into an Original vampire in the hopes of turning her against us. Granted, she used a modified version of the spell that created us, but-"

"Yeah. And that's a problem," Jeri said as she wrung her hands nervously. "You see… I can feel that. And once I start to syphon out what has been done to her last, I can't stop myself from taking away that either. My powers don't discriminate against other spells. Magic is magic. If I'd try that on you, it won't work, but because she's not entirely like you, she won't have that anymore once I'm done."

"Oh hell no," Myriam said as she moved away from the bars and went to the furthest corner of her cell. "I'd rather be a raving lunatic munching on vampires than to feel vulnerable again. With your family history? Nobody stays dead. What if your mother decides to come back to life, Klaus?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you killed her yourself," Klaus countered with a huff.

"Well… seeing as the Other Side is destroyed… it's not entirely impossible for a powerful witch to return…" Jeri said thoughtfully.

Klaus let out a groan. "Knowing my mother, she will."

"Klaus!" Myriam squeaked from her corner. "You're not going to say what I think you're going to say!"

"I'd rather have you alive and fragile than not at all, Myriam. If I allow you to be what you are now, you will eat through everyone, and I won't be able to keep up with your currently demanding side."

"No. Alaric! Say something!"

"I'm with Klaus on this, Myriam. I'd rather have you be a healthy vampire than this."

"Traitor!"

Jeri turned around to face Myriam with a smile on her face. "Alright, what would Kol want for you?"

"Don't you dare!" Myriam angrily shot at her. "Don't you dare bring him up!"

"Well?"

Myriam was quiet for a moment. "He'd be fine with the way that I am now."

"Liar," Klaus and Alaric chorused. Klaus got to his feet and entered the cell. "You're going to be alright. I'll protect you from whatever will come our way. I promise."

"No."

"I'm sorry, love," he said as he quickly reached out and snapped her neck, catching her before she fell. "She's going to hate me, but I'm going to keep snapping her neck until you come up with a different solution."

"There isn't any!" Jeri exclaimed, surprised.

"Damon and Elena managed to be cured without you, so can Myriam."

"I don't know who's more crazy," Alaric muttered. "You or her."

Jeri scowled as she pulled Alaric along with her. "Let's go, we're not wanted here. You should have never asked for my help! Now I have to stay in New Orleans until those two realize I am the only one who can help her!"

~o.O.o~

She was going to kill Klaus and then kill him some more. How dare he snap her neck so many times over the last few hours? Myriam wasn't feeling any different, so that made her think that he hadn't gone along with his original plan in the first place. Good. She'd hate to be turned back into a useless vampire who had to be careful not to piss off the wrong witch.

Klaus wasn't with her now, though. She could hear a lot of commotion coming from upstairs, and when she paced her cell, she noticed her door being ajar. "Fuck this shit, I'm not going to wait until that witch strips me of everything that I am…" she muttered to herself and ran upstairs before killing a few werewolves and fleeing the compound.

She headed straight to one of the vampire hangouts and went to town on them. She slaughtered them all and finally, since a very long time, felt satiated enough to think clearly. Limbs were everywhere, and there was a lot of stray blood, hell, even she was covered in layers and layers of blood, but she didn't care. She felt great. Ecstatic. High.

Myriam made the conscious decision not to head back to the partying French Quarter, but instead headed to Crescent Park and hopefully catch a few more vampires while enjoying the waterfront. The stars were pretty today, everything was so bright, the water so loud and the grass smelled so nice.

A couple was making out, and Myriam could smell their arousal. Licking her lips, she bit her wrist and forced them both to drink before snapping their necks and waited for another human to show up so she could feed her almost vampires human blood and then kill them again. She wanted more but had to stay away from the compound because she didn't want to eat Klaus' vampires.

She told her human to leave after having fed them to her two vampires and snacked on them. Discreetly.

Or not.

She found herself being flung out of the bench after killing her second vampire and angrily got to her feet. "Fucking witches! I wish this damn virus made me want to take a fucking bite out of you instead of other vampires!" Myriam raged as she ran towards the witch but stopped as she seemed to recognise this one.

"My, you're in a state," the witch replied. British accent. Not as inconsistent as Kol's, but it was Kol, wasn't it? Or was she merely seeing things now? Of course, she was, she was high on blood, high on life, high on everything and wanted to kill this witch. This wasn't Kol. Couldn't be Kol, because he was dead.

"You want to die too, witch?" Myriam snapped. "Because I'm ravenous and I won't hesitate to turn you."

"I can help you," the witch said eagerly. "No ulterior motives. No backstabbing. Free of charge and you won't owe me anything."

"And let me guess, the catch is that I have to get my hands on a siphoner and they will take away everything."

The witch chuckled and shook his head before reaching into his pocket and handed Myriam a vial. "This is the antidote to what ails you, tailored to what you are."

This was Kol, wasn't it? How else would this witch know about what was wrong and what to get for her unless it was Kol who had been watching from the Other Side? "I don't trust witches."

The witch sighed and shrugged before pointing at the vial in Myriam's hands. "That works. Trust me. I do not wish to risk the chance of angering the Original Hybrid. You're his wife, aren't you?"

"Klaus is a puppy, it's me who you need to be afraid of," Myriam growled. "This works? And I get to be who I was before?"

"I promise. You needed science and magic to fix you. I made sure the cure was a little bit of both. I may be new to New Orleans, but I do wish to keep the peace between us witches and vampires. Where I'm from, we all liked each other."

She narrowed her eyes at him, studying his face. "It's her, isn't it? She did this to you."

"Take the cure. Feel better," the witch said with a blush as he turned around to walk away from her.

She stood there, stunned, watching as the witch walked away. "I miss you, _Mon Chou_ , and Merci."

Kol's shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh, but kept walking.

"Are you in trouble?" Myriam ran after him, but she got knocked on her ass by him.

"Take the cure, Myriam. Leave me alone, I don't want you to get hurt and please, don't tell Nik that I'm back. If Mother finds out, I helped you or-" He was genuinely frightened, and all Myriam could do was to nod and open the vial to take the cure for him.

"I won't tell him," she agreed with tears in her eyes, getting to her feet and hugging him. He was slightly taller now. "I miss you, be safe, whatever you're up to."

"Yeah," he whispered reluctantly. "Don't worry about little old me."

"Come to Débauche when you're in trouble. I'll keep you safe," she smiled at him as she cupped his cheek. "Thank you for saving me, Kol."

"Always," he smiled weakly. "I have to go. Don't follow me or I will snap your neck and throw you into the Mississippi."

She nodded and as he walked away from her, snapped her neck anyway.


	26. Chapter 26

When she came to she was back in her dungeon. "Oh, come on!" she cried out as she banged on the door. "Klaus! Let me out!"

"You killed at least fifty vampires last night, and I found you near two others in Crescent Park, I am not letting you out!" he countered angrily. "How could you?!"

"I'm fine now."

"For how long?"

"Ahh…" Myriam smiled innocently and twirled around in her bloodied clothes as if she was a 4-year-old. "A friendly witch knew exactly what was going on and gave me an antidote they had created for me. I'm cured," she sang. "Now, please? Let me out?"

"So you do not wish to drink my blood anymore?"

"Well, if you insist… I always want your blood! But others? Ew. No."

"I don't believe you," he said suspiciously as he put Thierry in the cage with her. "You can have him, he was one of Marcel's lieutenants, very unhappy with you killing him."

Myriam sighed. "I didn't mean to kill Marcel, and I'm certainly not going to take a bite out of Thierry, come on, he looks like a hippy, smells like old socks and booze and ugh. That hair! Give me a clean criminal human instead?"

Klaus rolled his eyes at her. "How do I know you're truly cured? How do you know?"

"I feel great. I feel like myself again. Honestly. The witch who made this for me can be trusted."

"Do I know her?"

"Doubtful. But I trust them. Let me out. Let me… clean up and let's catch up. I'm of sound mind, and I promise I will leave your vampires alone," she smiled at him before punching a hole in Thierry's chest, yanked his heart out and chucked it at Klaus' head. "And if you wanted him dead, you could have done that yourself."

Klaus wearily looked at her before opening the door. "If you're taking even one bite out of one of my vampires, I will put you right back."

"You have nothing to worry about, mon LouLou," she smiled at him as she patted his cheek and walked past him to go to the bathroom. She was going to take a long, hot bath and burn her clothes. She deserved it. "Are you going to join me, husband?"

~o.O.o~

They were still in bed the following morning, and Myriam stretched herself as if she were a cat. "Convinced?"

"Yes," Klaus replied as he nuzzled her neck. "Now, will you tell me who your witch friend is so I can properly thank her?"

"Nope," she smiled and then sighed happily. To know that Kol was back in some form or another did her good, and she could barely escape her excitement, but she promised him not to tell Klaus. "So, what do you need me to do about your werewolf problem?"

"Already dealt with, love. Last night while you were out."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm absolutely positive. But a witch is helping the werewolves, and I intend to get to know her and persuade her to stop," he kept nuzzling her neck. "Hence why I'm asking you who your friendly witch was so I won't end up killing her."

"Well, you can kill any female witch if you'd like," she let out a small moan. "My friendly witch was definitely male."

Klaus scraped her neck with his teeth. "Anyone I should be concerned about?"

"Klaus!" Myriam laughed. "Oh my God! Stop that! I'd never! I mean… I consider Alaric to be my friend, are you jealous of him too?"

"No."

"Then you won't have to be jealous of my male witchy friend," she replied with a smile. "Besides, when you eventually meet him, I'm sure you'll like him too," she kissed him before rolling away from him and getting dressed. "While you're going to deal with your witch business, I think I'm going to Débauche. Take things back, give Isabella a long vacation."

"You're not killing her."

Myriam huffed. "She's the only self-created vampire that I haven't killed. She stays. But she deserves a change of scenery after so long."

"You are coming home tonight."

"Yes, my love," she flashed a smile at him. "And I'll even cook you dinner if you want, like the good little wifey that I am."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's been a long time since you've had to miss New Orleans cuisine, I'll find us a traditional cook."

Myriam barked out a laugh. "Darling, nothing about New Orleans cuisine is traditional anymore but sure, find the one who makes the best gumbo in town." She kissed him and then headed straight for Débauche.

"Surprise," Myriam said as she walked into Isabella's office.

"Myriam!" Isabella exclaimed, and Myriam wasn't sure whether it was out of shock or surprise. "What a surprise! What-What are you doing here?"

"I was made to move back to New Orleans, what do you think I'm doing? I'm giving you the next like… two hundred years off, my friend. As a token of my appreciation for you having looked after Débauche for me."

Isabella let out a snort. "Myriam, this club has been mine for so long, do you honestly believe I give it back to you? I've strung you along for all these years because you weren't even here, but now? No way. This club is mine."

"I thought you were my friend, Isabella, this is quite disappointing," Myriam replied as two burly werewolves appeared in her peripheral vision. "And werewolves as security? That's a detail you failed to mention."

"As I said, my club. Not yours. Just because you're a Mikaelson doesn't mean you own something yourself or you have people working for you out of their good faith."

"I've paid you handsomely for running Débauche, Isabella," Myriam growled. "You received generous bonuses, and you didn't have to worry about anything." When the two werewolves behind her approached her, Myriam turned around and ripped out their hearts before she turned to chuck them at Isabella. "And here I promised my husband that I wasn't in the mood to kill another vampire…" she sighed before she ducked as Isabella attacked her. Using all of her strength, Myriam took hold of the little vampire and pulled her head right off before grabbing a handful of pencils and pushed them into Isabella's heart as if she was a pin cushion.

She then invited the entire staff into the office, with the dead werewolves and dead Isabella still in plain sight. "This is my baby. This business is my baby, and this bitch decided not to give it back to me. Look what happened to her!" Myriam said as she closed the door of the office and killed the remaining staff. "You really think I'd keep people on after this? No way. I'm cleaning house."

Myriam then went floor to floor to see the state of her brothel and shelter and realised that Isabella had turned Débauche in something Myriam didn't stand for, at all. The prostitutes were kept in dangerous conditions, and likely victims of human trafficking and nobody was in need of help in the shelter.

It hurt her heart.

She kicked everyone out and locked the doors after making sure nobody was inside and then went home. Angry. Pissed off. Disappointed. Isabella had ruined her business, it wasn't all about the money, it was about helping people. The prostitutes had to want to work for her. Nothing forced.

She pouted as she walked into the wine cellar where Klaus was breaking off the neck of a bottle of wine and took a large gulp out of it. "I met the witch Cassie," he snarled. "I studied her, her presence. The way that she carried herself. The fervour with which she voiced her hatred towards our kind. I looked into that girl's eyes, and I swear to you, Myriam, she's not just guided by my mother, she is my mother!"

"What is happening?" Rebekah said worried as she walked in.

"I'm going to kill her," Klaus replied. "I'll boil her bones and feed her to the dogs if that's what it takes."

"Nik," Rebekah said with a small voice.

"What! What could possibly be more important than the return of our mother?"

"Our father," Rebekah said. "I saw him standing there in the flesh just like you do now. He was enslaved by some bracelet attached to Davina. He holds the Stake. If she chooses to release him…"

"Well then… Then there's only one question to ask, isn't there? Which of our parents do we kill first?"

Deciding to let the siblings talk amongst themselves, Myriam agreed that the betrayal she had just experienced wasn't a big of a deal anymore, at least not to share with her husband. Both Esther and Mikael were back, and Myriam was going to make herself scarce. She was going to rebuild Débauche the way that she had intended it to be; give everyone that she had just kicked out a very generous severance pay and start over.

And she had to start with cleaning the club from top to bottom, give it a fresh coat of paint, to eliminate the stench and the bad vibes the club had held under the rule of Isabella. Stupid backstabbing cow.

And she was going to start now. Staying out of Klaus and Rebekah's way. Even though both Mikael and Esther were in town, she'd promised not to run, and she didn't want to, she wanted to stick around. Now that she didn't have her demons anymore, she was basically even more useless than Rebekah, never having had learned how to fight properly or whatever. She just went for it and hoped for the best in a fight usually.

Walking back into the wine room after having cleaned herself up, she found Klaus and Rebekah sitting together in silence, drinking their beverage. They were both lost in their own thoughts, and for a moment Myriam didn't want to interrupt them.

"We need to wake Elijah," Rebekah eventually said. "He always knew what to do."

"We don't need Elijah," Klaus scowled. "He'll only want to control us, Bekah, I'm not going through that again." He then looked at Myriam and smiled. "How was your day, love?"

"Compared to the day you two had? Not really important, but I was wondering if I could borrow a few of your vampires tonight," she asked from her position by the door. "There's been some… issues at the club and I could use a cleanup and demolition crew."

Klaus frowned as he held out his hand for her to join him. "Anything I can help you with?"

Myriam sighed as she walked over to him, took his hand and sat down on his lap. "It's honestly not-"

"You're my wife," he said as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "And I understand you won't want to be involved with dealing with our parents, but that doesn't mean that what you're dealing with isn't as important."

Rebekah blinked at that. "Seriously, Nik?"

"We're a family, Rebekah. I'm sure that we'll have to deal with our parents sooner or later, without Elijah, and we'll come up with a plan. I'm curious why my wife - who claims to be cured - needs a cleanup crew, that's all."

Myriam let out a sigh. "Well, I did kill a vampire… and a few werewolves… and a few witches…"

"What!"

"What?" she let out a whine. "My friend who has been running Débauche for me for so long didn't want to give it back to me, she even went as far as calling security on me!"

"You went on a murderous rampage?"

"Of course I did! It's my business, my club! My baby!" Myriam defended herself. "So I need the bodies cleaned up, and I want to rip out everything in the club because I need to start over. She had turned it into an abomination, and it needs a good scrub, new paint, everything!"

"Yeah, you're right, this isn't as important as our parents being back from the dead. Again," Rebekah said with a sour look on her face.

"But this is important to Myriam, Rebekah," Klaus countered as he narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Just because she will not help or interfere with our dealings with our parents-"

"I didn't say that. I'm picking my battles," Myriam said as she looked at Klaus. "I already killed your mother once, it's someone else's turn now."

He kissed the top of her head. "Anything to keep you with me, love," he whispered in her ear. "And take ten vampires to make your business your second home again. Take as long as you need. But, do come home at night."

Myriam softly kissed him. "Where's Alaric staying? Do you know? Maybe he'd like to help me later."

"You still need to kill that hack of a witch of his, love," Klaus encouraged her. "After all, she wanted to take away everything from you."

"Priorities," Myriam sighed.

"Stay home tonight, let us have dinner like the family that we are," Klaus smiled at her and poured her a glass of wine. "Worry about your club, and our parents, tomorrow."

~o.O.o~

Myriam was the first one to be awake the following morning and decided to go on her way to get Klaus' vampires to help her with Débauche. However, there was a breakfast spread standing in the middle of the courtyard, which was indeed a strange place for breakfast to be. "Klaus!" she called out to him, not touching anything. "Did you arrange breakfast?"

"No, love, I haven't."

"It looks good, though," Rebekah replied as she came to a halt at the table. All three vampires were surprised when something moved on the table. Klaus cautiously lifted the lid off, and a handful of starlings flew out from underneath the cover, revealing a note.

"Oh, hell no," Myriam threw up her hands and walked out. "Good luck with that!" She headed straight for Débauche after getting a few of Klaus' vampires. They didn't quite want to cooperate so she compelled them all, and one was going to find a skip or two so they could throw out every single piece of furniture in the club, brothel and shelter.

Fresh start.

While the vampires were taking care of things, she was in the office making sure that she had all the necessary papers and information before temporarily moving them back to the compound. When she returned, she was surprised to find Kol sitting on the bench in front of Débauche, looking at the vampires. "Who hurt you?" Myriam asked as she sat down next to him. "Want some of my blood?"

"Nah, Mother thought this would give me some sympathy votes with Davina," he sighed as he motioned to his head. "I haven't had a scar in over a thousand years, Myriam."

"I told Klaus I was staying out of this."

Kol barked out a laugh and nodded. "I thought you would, but I need their help to kill our Mother, I'm not on her side, you know. She wants us all in different bodies so we can live out our lives and then die."

"You need to talk to Klaus," Myriam gently pat his knee. "So, if you're not here for some vampire blood, what are you doing here?"

He pointed behind him. "I walked by and saw your vampires working hard, and I wondered why."

"Isabella ruined my business. She turned something pure into an abomination and illegal shit. Killed her, her staff, let the workers go and I'm going to start over from scratch," Myriam sighed before elbowing Kol gently. Somehow, his current form looked super fragile. "Thank you for saving me. Alaric had brought a siphoner to help me, but she'd syphon away everything."

"You wouldn't get anything back," Kol agreed. "Not even your demons. Good thing I found you in time, huh?"

Myriam smiled at him. "Where were you on your way to?"

"I'm actually looking for Davina, have you seen her?"

"Do I look like someone who looks like she knows who Davina is?" Myriam laughed. "I don't know. But if you want to switch sides to the good side, just let me know, and we'll go to Klaus together." She then let out a huff. "Who in their right mind calls their little girl Davina? It's almost as if they expected a boy to be born and were too lazy to change their name."

"Myriam, be nice. Davina is currently controlling my Father, and he has the White Oak Stake that Mother wants. I didn't tell Mother about Father, of course."

"What's Davina's last name?"

He scratched his head then, looking slightly embarrassed. "You don't want to know."

Myriam's eyes grew big. Kol was so predictable!. "It's Claire, isn't it? And you truly like her! Not because of your mother but your own fuzzy feelings! Oh my god, Kol, you really don't change, do you?" she laughed, shaking her head. "You are smitten with this one."

"I used her ancestor, that's all, but yeah… she's young, gorgeous, powerful… she hates Nik as much as I do and-"

"Hold on," she put her hand on his mouth. "You're not going to plot against Klaus again, are you? Because I've stopped you then and I will stop you now."

"I just want to put him in a box for a few years like he's done to me. I won't kill him! I mean, if I did, that would mean I'd lose you. No, he just needs to get a taste of his own medicine."

"And leave me without a husband."

"And yes. Leave you without your husband."

"You're such an ass," Myriam huffed. "We finally seem to be in a great place, and you are very fragile right now, so you're going to leave him alone."

"Threatening with bodily harm?"

"I'd rather not, Kol," she smiled at him. "But, as you may be aware, we daggered Elijah because he was far too controlling. Klaus is without a leash now, without Elijah's influence. He's a normal person now. He's changed. So, you may do whatever you want to Elijah, I'll even tell you where his box is, but you're leaving Klaus alone."

He let out a breath and nodded. "Nik is the least of my worries now, I need to find Davina."

"Good luck with that," Myriam smiled. "Are you sure you don't want some blood to fix your beautiful face?"

"Mother will kill me if I allow that to happen," he said as he got to his feet. "But I will think about what you've said, Myriam. I'd rather be on Nik's side than on Mother's, but she's scaring the living hell out of me."

She took his hand and squeezed it. "Stay with me. I'll protect you. _Je m'ennuie tellement de toi._ " And she meant it. She missed him. Now that he was back, she wanted him to be around her all the time.

Kol sighed and hung his head. " _Moi aussi_ ," he replied. "Let me go, darling, I'll find you again. Oh, before I forget," he said as he handed her a paper with an address written on. "That's where Alaric lives."

"Merci," she whispered as Kol walked off. Oh, she could do everything in her power to keep him with her, but he was on a mission, he was involved with whatever his mother was scheming, and Myriam had made the conscious decision to stay out of it.

She headed back inside to instruct her vampires, but they were still doing what she wanted them to do and then headed to Alaric's home. It was indeed a lovely little apartment just off campus of the University and from what she could tell, the witch was inside his house as well. Sighing, Myriam knocked on the door, unsure if Alaric would allow her inside.

"Myriam? Hi, uh… how are you doing?"

"Why are you nervous?" Myriam cocked her head. "Didn't expect me to show up at your door? Come on, Ric, you're my friend. I brought booze?"

He looked at her for a moment. "You're back in your right mind? How?"

Myriam shrugged. "I have my own ways. I didn't fancy being stripped of everything that I am. Especially not with the crap my family is dealing with now, but I appreciate your effort by calling in your witch."

"She's not my witch," Alaric let out a chuckle. "Alright, come in, let's celebrate your regained sanity. Jeri's inside too, we were waiting for Klaus to call with a decision."

Myriam huffed as she stepped inside. "Oh, well, you don't like change much, do you?" she barked out a laugh. "You literally just picked up everything and moved it in."

"It's not as if I'm a member of a very wealthy family and can leave my stuff whenever I move," Alaric laughed, shaking his head. "But I'm glad you approve."

"Didn't say that," Myriam smiled as she danced on the balls of her feet. "Could do with a lick of paint, but I'm too busy with my business so…"

"But you're alright?"

"I'm fine," Myriam smiled as she sat down on the sofa next to Jeri. "Hi, nice to meet you. Sorry I was in such a state the last time we met." Myriam then opened the bottle of alcohol she'd brought and took a sip before ripping out Jeri's heart without any warning whatsoever. Upon seeing Alaric's shocked face, Myriam shrugged. "I'll pay for a new sofa, don't you worry, but she's a hack."

"Myriam!"

Myriam wiped her hand on the sofa and got to her feet with a big smile on her face. "It's not too late to turn back, Ric. New Orleans is crawling with vampires, witches and werewolves. It's quite possible that you'll get caught up in something," she said as she kissed his cheek and walked to the door. "Better get used to it now!"

"And what am I supposed to do with the couch and the body?" Alaric said frustrated. "You can't do this again, Myriam!"

"Ah, don't worry, I'll send someone over to help you out," she shrugged. "And yes, I can. I'm done with taking shit from people. The bitch that was supposed to look out for my club while I was gone turned it into something seedy and disgraceful, and now I have to start all over again. I killed her. I killed her staff and let the workers go," she pointed at Jeri. "And she wanted to come in the good graces of the Mikaelsons because she's a Kol groupie - even though she'd never met him. She was going to take away everything, Alaric. EVERYTHING! She's a hack! Well, was. Siphoners are stupid anyway."

"She was my friend!"

"I am your friend!" Myriam countered angrily. "And you can find new friends here in New Orleans!" And with that, Myriam opened the door and returned to Débauche. She wanted to go home, but she remembered that Esther had invited herself over for dinner. Yeah, she wasn't going to go back until Klaus would tell her that it was safe to come home. But was it truly safe, though? Weren't his vampires supposed to keep an eye on who came inside and went outside? How had it been possible for Esther to put a breakfast spread like that in the middle of the courtyard?

As she walked through the building and dodging the vampires who were stripping the entire building for her, she decided that some walls had to be knocked down and some built somewhere else to make more room. She wanted a door wide passageway for those who came to visit the ladies on the first floor, this way they could hide different spells and objects in the walls to make sure the johns were legit. There had to be a slightly larger reception area, but yes. This was an idea.

Her project was going to take a month. Maybe two. Depending on how fast her vampires worked. But for now, all she could do was to go and look for new inventory. Oh, she loved shopping!


	27. Chapter 27

It was two weeks into her renovation period of Débauche, and she hadn't heard anything from Alaric. But she didn't have time to think about him as she was simply very proud of her club rising from the ashes. Oh, a lot had to be done, still. She needed new staff, she needed a friendly witch to put security up, she met this great guy who worked in IT and was willing to set up a secure payment system for her and even gave her the number of someone who was a wizard with cameras and security systems.

Klaus was fuming as he had found the witch Davina and he also found Mikael and Kol. He rendered Mikael immobile by pushing something he'd acquired the year before into Mikael's chest, and Davina and Kol had run off because Klaus was willing to kill him.

For what? Well, for siding with their mother, of course. Myriam wanted to explain that Kol basically didn't have a choice and that with Klaus being so closed off towards Kol that it didn't make it easy for him to turn to him for help.

And Myriam had told Klaus that. He promised to do better for Kol, but not for Finn.

Myriam was still in bed when Klaus marched back into the bedroom after having it vacated only minutes before. "Elijah is gone."

"What?"

"His coffin is open, and Elijah is gone," Klaus repeated as he started to pace the room. "How is this possible? Our security is fine, and he was protected by magic!"

"Your mother has been able to slip in undetected before," Myriam reminded him as she sat up. "But who knows? It might not be your mother this time, who else is after you?"

"Who isn't!" Klaus cried out. "No, I have a feeling that it's Mother. She's up to something. She wants us all in different bodies, and this is what I would do! If only I'd have unboxed Elijah, then he'd - this is all your fault!"

"My fault?"

"You daggered him, you said we'd be better off without him and look what happened!"

"Blame the fucking witch who seemingly protected him with her magic, not me!" Myriam countered angrily as she got out of bed and started to get dressed. "In any case, I've been trying to stick by you while you deal with your parents and the return of your siblings, but to blame me for that wench for stealing Elijah? Sorry, Klaus, that's the last straw," she said as she pulled her hair back in a ponytail. "Until this is solved, I'll be living at the club."

"What! You can't do that!"

"I can. And I will," she shot at him. "Unless you want me to leave New Orleans all together? Because I can do that, you know."

"Myriam, I need you!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "No, you don't. You know how I feel about your parents, I'm not going to be in the middle of this. I can't help you because frankly, while I'm pleased that I'm more indestructible than I have been in the past, I am useless to the point of not being able to help you with my pets. And yes, you hear those stories of your partner having the parents from hell, but yours are that, quite literally! I'm done!" Myriam rambled. "Both your parents have kidnapped me to get to you. The both of them! We've always run from Mikael. I'm not running now, but you're making it quite difficult."

"You're not going to blame Elijah's kidnapping on me!"

"I'm not! You're not even listening!" Myriam then took a deep breath and shook her head. "I'm going to stay at the club until you've done something about your parents." She then used her speed to leave the compound and headed straight for Débauche. She arrived just in time for the trucks to arrive with the inner workings of her club, it was time to decorate, or was it? Had the vampires truly worked throughout the night to paint everything? Put in new floors? Had she overestimated the two months she believed it was going to take?

Walking inside, her heart swelled with so much joy, the fight with Klaus forgotten momentarily. It was precisely as she had sketched it out. Walking into the entrance, there was a small reception area with room for a member of security to keep an eye on things. The door to the right lead to the bar area and the bar had large windows looking out on the dancers in the next room.

On the left was an area for security and her own office was behind another secure door or two, and a small utility room was also accounted for. Then there was a lovely little area with more security but also with guest stairs that lead up to the first floor; where she was going to have ladies for just about anyone. Willing ladies. Myriam wasn't going to push, and she certainly wasn't going to force anybody.

There was a kitchen on that floor and a handful separate rooms for the girls to work in. There was even a small dormitory for them to stay and or rest. All rooms were equipped with showers, and she had also ordered a cupboard for them.

A staircase hidden behind a security door lead her to the top floor, with once again a dormitory and showers, and a handful of apartments, one of which she was going to claim for her own. Because while she wanted to help humans who were hurt by the supernatural, she also knew that it was also likely that children would be involved. Or anxiety. PTSD. You didn't want to put those people with others in a room.

And everything looked pristine. It smelled clean, fresh and had the colour scheme she wanted.

Myriam had her business back. She was happy.

Letting out a girly giggle, she went downstairs again and started to direct the movers to where things needed to go. Much to her surprise, more of Klaus' vampires showed up to help. It was almost as if Klaus wanted to make up for the fact that he was once again blaming her for things she hadn't had any control over.

But, not wanting to turn them down as it would mean the trucks would be emptied quicker, she told them where everything needed to be. She arranged her office by herself, the new laptop would arrive later that day.

By the end of the following day, her business was ready to open for business, but she still needed staff. She needed girls. Test the girls. Interviews. She locked herself into Débauche and spent the night on the internet with a bottle of vodka to look for talent. But, while the internet was accessible and useful for a lot of things, she didn't trust the things she found. She needed someone with more knowledge of the internet, but it was 3 am, and she was drunk and all alone.

Deciding that Kol would probably know, she dialled his number. It took a while for him to answer, but when he did, he sounded different. Strained. "Are you okay?"

" _I'm a little tied up, darling. We're having a family reunion. I could really use your help to tell my brother that I'm on your side."_

Myriam let out a groan as she heard how the phone was moved away from Kol and back to likely Klaus. "Let him go."

" _He is colluding with my mother!"_

"It's Kol. Remember I caught him 100 years ago trying to plot against you? It's what he does! Especially when he's afraid! What you're doing right now is making him even more fearful, so you let him go, and you hear him out. He's truthful," she said as she downed her bottle. "He's on your side, Klaus, he wants to help, but he's afraid of you."

" _And why were you calling him?"_

"He's my friend. Let him go. Don't make me come over and beat your ass," she got to her feet and swayed a little and bumped into the desk before making her way to the bar to find another bottle of vodka. "But if he's busy with you, I'll call someone else. Bye husband," she said as she disconnected the call.

Making her way back to her office with an expensive bottle of bourbon, she dialled Alaric's number.

" _Myriam, it's 3.30 am. Why are you calling me?"_ Alaric sounded groggy. Had she woken him up? Ah, she didn't care.

"I need your help with the internet. I'm looking for ladies to work for me but all it does is take me to websites I have to pay for and this craigslist… I don't trust."

" _And you need my help with that at this time?"_

"Yes."

" _After you killed Jeri in my apartment?"_

"I sent a cleanup crew, and I got you a new couch," she said as she took a swig of her bottle. "And I have a job for you if you don't want to teach."

" _I am a teacher, Myriam."_

"I'll pay you triple from what you get as a teacher."

She could hear some shuffling on the other end of the line and a deep sigh. " _I don't do it for the money."_

"I'm your friend. I need you."

" _You don't need me, Myriam, at least not on a daily basis. You're more than capable of-"_

He was rejecting her, wasn't he? Well, it was only a matter of time, but it still hurt. "Then why did you move to New Orleans if you're not my friend? You could have stayed at Whitmore, you seemed to enjoy that."

" _Because I have a better opportunity here. There's a wider community of supernaturals and-"_

"But you hate vampires and the supernatural!"

" _And that you always seem to throw tantrums,"_ Ric sighed. " _Myriam, I love you, but I'm not going to work for you. And if you allow me a few more hours of sleep, I'll be more than happy to come over and help you out with the internet. Go have some sleep yourself, you sound as if you're on the verge of a mental breakdown."_

"I can't talk to anyone about this shit."

" _Then write it all down, just like I told you to do when you came to me a couple of months ago. Write it down and sort it out,"_ he said kindly. " _Relax, have a good night, Myriam. I'll bring breakfast in a few hours."_

"But…"

" _Myriam, you always told everyone that you don't need anybody. That you're the bigger monster than Klaus. And I know that you were only looking out for yourself when you killed Jeri, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to get out of my apartment to come to you for something as trivial as helping you navigate the internet. You've made your bed."_

"Asshole," she muttered as she disconnected the call and took another swig of her alcohol. Oh, she knew that if she were patient, Klaus and Kol would stop fighting, and Kol would be able to help her out, but she wasn't patient. She wanted to get her business running as soon as possible.

And it was ridiculous that she even needed help. She could send an email just fine and usually google helped her out just fine but how was she supposed to know that the girls she found were real girls? Or that they weren't being beaten by some pimp?

No, she needed to go about this old school. Pushing her laptop to the side, she grabbed a pen and paper and started to draft an advertisement. The newspaper was likely going to print soon, so she had to move fast. And she was going to make copies of it and send it off to other newspapers.

Screw the internet. Sometimes doing things old school was the best way.

~o.O.o~

A couple of days later, there was a whole line of girls waiting outside the club, ready to be auditioned for dancers, and Myriam couldn't be happier. It was a joy seeing the girls dance and try to impress Myriam, and while most of them were clearly professionals, she made sure that by the end of the day, she had a well-balanced team of professionals and some that weren't as good. Yet.

She compelled them to speak the truth, and she was relieved that they were here on their own volition and gave them all an advance as she expected them to return the following week.

She went to Tremé and see how popular she was still there. Granted, she hadn't been in contact with them for over a hundred years, but maybe they'd still accept her. She had taught them more about magic. The best part about the Tremé witches was that they practised both Ancestral and Sacrificial magic. And occasionally traditional magic. Tremé witches didn't trust outsiders, and she had done a lot to gain their trust back in the day. She'd never felt alienated by them, although at this point she wasn't sure about anything.

New Orleans had changed, thanks to Marcel, and not for the better.

As expected, it took some time for Myriam to find the Elder of the Tremé coven. She tried talking to them at the market but was given headaches every time she came close. She then remembered that she used to be close to the McDaniels, and went to find their kin. Funnily enough, the family still lived at the house that she had often frequented in the past.

The door opened, and Myriam half expected another headache or to be smacked on her ass, but instead, the resident raised a curious eyebrow. "We don't deal with vampires."

"I know that," Myriam replied kindly. "And you don't like outsiders either, which I find nothing but admirable. However, I'm not here because I'm a vampire. I'm here because I took back what was mine and I want to turn it into a safe haven for humans who fell victim to the supernatural."

The woman huffed and motioned for Myriam to come in as she moved away from the door. "Your 'friend' Isabella did a piss poor job in your absence, especially in the last 100 years."

"I know, I got rid of her," Myriam smiled as she followed the woman. "To be fair, I'm surprised you're still here, Diane."

"Nothing that a little bit of magic can't fix," Diane sat down in her chair. "You may have your immortality, I have my spells to make my life last a bit longer, but it's wearing thin, I can tell you that. I merely wanted to stick around long enough for Marcel Gerard's regime to come to an end. I believe I have you to thank for that?"

"I wasn't quite myself, but I suppose so," Myriam chuckled slightly as she sat down across from the woman. "And Klaus knows better than to try to control the witches, as long as things don't go too crazy, but that's just like the werewolves and the vampires."

Diane looked at her for a moment as she slowly nodded. "You look troubled."

"I'll be a lot better once my club and shelter are up and running. It'll be the sole thing I'll be focusing on for a while."

The older woman let out a breath and nodded. "I shall ask my daughter and granddaughter to go to Débauche and meet with you, to talk about the security spells you require. And don't be a stranger, you hear? I plan on hanging on for as long as I can, but eventually, this body will deteriorate, and I won't be able to keep up rejuvenating myself."

"Thank you," Myriam smiled at her. "You know, I could still turn you."

"Oh, over my dead body," Diane laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry, Myriam. I'll talk to the Tremé witches and tell them that you're not like any other vampire and that they can trust you. You can have a good bond with us witches again."

"I owe you, so much."

"Darlin', you got rid of Marcel Gerard. We owe you."

~o.O.o~

A week later, she opened the doors to Débauche officially after the refurbishment and the hiring of new talent. She had a talented bartender and some great staff working underneath him, dancers, and even some girls who were willing, free, and able to entertain men privately. However, tonight was all about the bar and the dance club, and she hoped, that for one day in whatever her husband and her best friend were up to now, that they'd stop and come.

However, she could understand what they wouldn't. After all, she had ignored Klaus' phone calls and text messages, and she wasn't helping him with his parents. No, she was safe in her club.

She loved watching the people entertain themselves, watching the girls on stage. Currently, there were the Bees. They came to Myriam to tell her that there was a hit on her head for quite some money and that they would keep her safe if she'd paid double. Which she did. And offered them an hourly fee if they'd work for her. As it turned out, the Bees were professional dancers apart from their side job as hitwomen.

Could Myriam trust them? Sure, after she compelled them!

But Bree, Betty and Bianca were amazing. Tall, gorgeous and dangerous. And they had the men eating out of their hands.

It was near midnight when security alerted her of two witches who wanted entrance into the club. Myriam had a strict no witches, vampires or werewolf policy unless she stated that they were allowed in, and the spells and dark objects that Diane's family had made for her were the ones who screened every soul that entered the threshold.

She headed over to the detention area and blinked when she saw Kol, accompanied by a very young witch. "Kol!" she smiled at him and hugged him tightly. "You made it!"

"Of course I did, darling," he smiled at her. "This is very important to you. Sorry, we're late. Very impressive magic."

Myriam grinned. "Well you're welcome to stay, but your little friend doesn't look legal."

"She's not, but surely you can make an exception for Davina?"

Myriam narrowed her eyes on Kol before looking at Davina. She was a Claire alright. "Heard so much about you, Davina, pleasure meeting you. But no. Access denied."

"Oh come on, Myr!" Kol whined. "We want to party, and she's allowed in Rousseau's!"

"This isn't Rousseau's. If you want to go to Rousseau's, you go to Rousseau's. You know very well what kind of place I run!"

Kol huffed. "You never had an issue with underaged girls before."

"Those were different times. I had to bend over backwards to get the licenses that I have, and I'm not going to ruin it by allowing her inside."

"Oh come on, you're a vampire."

"Kol. No," Myriam said sternly. "I'd love to have a chat with you and get to know Davina, but not in the club. I really appreciate you coming, though. It means a lot."

"But-"

"It's alright," Davina eventually spoke up and gently caressed Kol's arm. "Myriam obviously takes pride in her club and wants to keep everything legal. That includes me not entering the bar and the club. It's rare these days." Davina then looked at Myriam. "I can see why Kol likes you so much. How about we have lunch tomorrow at the little eatery on the corner of this street?"

"That sounds like a plan, thank you for understanding, Davina."

"I'm thankful of you for ridding New Orleans from Isabella. She was really shady. If there's anything I can do for you, just ask."

Myriam smiled at her. Silly young witch. "You shouldn't offer your services like that. Not to anyone," she said sternly. "But yes, see you two for lunch, tomorrow. Thanks for coming and Jerry here will see you two out."

"But Myr…" Kol tried again.

"No, Kol. You should be glad that I even allow you to enter without Davina if you want after you started the fire!"

"That was years ago, you're still blaming me?"

"Yes. You're a fire hazard," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Out. Now." After making sure that Kol and Davina had truly left the building, she went back to the party and found Alaric sitting at the bar, nursing a bourbon. "Hey, you made it. Thought you wouldn't want to see me anymore."

"I don't," Alaric said as he watched her sit down next to him. "In fact, I think I'm going to move back to Mystic Falls."

"What? Why?"

"Because you made me leave?" Alaric shrugged. "Because I'm in a huge city filled with witches, werewolves and vampires and I simply can't understand how I can live here. You helped me with whatever Esther did, and I helped you to regain your senses, but I think that's where things should end for us, Myriam."

"But…"

"You killed someone in my flat. Someone I had found for you to help you."

"And she was going to take my invulnerability," Myriam hissed as she slapped her flat hand on the surface of the bar.

"And what if Kol wouldn't have been there at the right moment?"

"I'd rather have died."

"Yeah, you see, I don't believe that," Alaric said as he knocked back his drink. "I do think that this is a great venture for you, Myriam. It's good that a vampire is looking out for those who can't. And while you do that here, let me do that in Mystic Falls where the population of vampires, werewolves and witches can be counted on one hand. Maybe two."

"I thought we were friends," she muttered.

"Friends? No. We have a connection, but we're not friends. I like you, Myriam, but I don't like what you are. I don't like it that you're in bed with the big bad wolf, literally. And he'll continue to hurt you. Chip away at everything that you are and you will continuously need to fight that because eventually, you're going to change so much that not even your mother will recognise you."

Myriam rolled her eyes. "I've got my club back. I'm good, but sure. Leave me. Live your life the way you want to."

"That's it?"

"What? You want me to cause a scene in a full bar during the grand re-opening of everything that I love? You're not going to get it," Myriam said as she signalled the bartender for a drink. "See you later, Ric. Thanks for the help. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Oh come on." Alaric huffed.

"You're ruining my night. Leave before I decide you're not going to leave New Orleans alive," she finished her glass and pushed herself off of the bar and continued to mingle.

"Can I have this dance?"

Myriam smiled when she heard the voice she'd wanted to hear all night and moved against him as she put her arms around him. "You made it!"

"This is an important night, I thought I'd arrive fashionably late, in the hope that you'd be alone," Klaus replied as he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm surprised I wasn't stopped by your security as Kol was. He wasn't happy."

"There's only one hybrid. I told my guys to allow you through, always."

"You built a fortress, love, it's even worse than before we left."

"Yeah well, your parents are in town, and threats are eviler this time," Myriam sighed as she looked up at him. "How are you doing, mon LouLou?"

"Could have done better, but we're dealing with mother now," he said quietly. "There's a plan in motion. She wanted to use Camille as a body to jump into, but we've put a stop to that. Elijah…" he sighed then. "Mother has done a real number on him, and we're keeping him in the dungeon below. Kol provided the protective spells."

"That's good."

"I miss you," he sighed again as he kissed the top of her head. "Come home."

"You can stay here with me," she could feel herself melt against him. "This place is safer than the Compound." The hell with going home. Not with mommy and daddy dearest on the loose. Not until Klaus would treat her better. "Come on, just for one night. Let us be husband and wife again. Let me show you around. Forget your worries for one night."

He let out a breath and nodded. "Very well."

"Is that because you want to or because I asked?"

"Because I need to," he told her, a smile on his face. "My wife has rebuilt her business, and it's more glorious than ever. Why should I go back to our home alone when there's so much celebrating to be done?"

Myriam let out a groan. "You're thinking with your dick. I want you to be with me because you want to. Not because you have an itch to scratch or because I asked."

"Love, what I need or want is not on the table tonight. It's what you want, what you need."

"Really? Even if I just want to spew my thoughts?"

Klaus nodded. "I am your husband. I can always listen. You know that I don't do well with change, but I'm willing to try. Again. You've given me so many chances, I want to do it right this time."

Myriam smiled then, believing the sincerity in his voice. "Come on, then, let's leave this party early and let me show you around and take you to my room."


	28. Chapter 28

It seemed as if things got even crazier for the Mikaelsons the following weeks. Klaus had turned his mother into a vampire, Finn went nuts and played with Kol's life by keeping him locked inside the compound with a bunch of newbie vamps while channelling his parents and Kol forgot to mention that he'd misplaced Rebekah into the Witches' Asylum who eventually broke out with long-lost sister Freya.

Myriam wasn't keeping score. She liked to be blissfully unaware of things so she could remain happy, centred, focused. She was content in her fortress. Business was going well, and she even hired some new girls who came in to audition. She was in the middle of helping a human victim of the supernatural get settled when Kol just about fell into her establishment and security called for her.

She found in him in quite the state, anger and pain was written all over his face, and she took him into her office, pushed him on the sofa and handed him a big glass of alcohol before sitting down next to him, waiting for him to calm down. It was likely that he had merely had a fight with Klaus again, but realised he was actually too fragile to do something about it.

"Nik doesn't want to help me, despite Rebekah telling him I spoke the truth," he said as he clenched his hand around the glass. "He forced himself into my thoughts, and I had to defend myself and ran." Kol took a big gulp from his glass. "Always and Forever, my ass. I'm always not included."

She gently ran her hand through his hair as she looked at him. "What's going on, mon chou?"

"It's Finn," Kol spat. "I was trying to distract him so that Davina and Aiden could free Josh from Finn's hold and I was doing fine. Or so I thought, but he was playing me. And then cursed me into this body. No more jumping bodies. No escape from death. Which will come, you know, because he hexed me along with it. I might have days."

"He did what!"

"Our family has always been at each other's throats, you know that as well as anyone, but this?"

Myriam growled. "So, if I kill Finn, will that stop you from dying?"

"Likely, but darling, he's fuelled by my parents. You'd need to sever that connection first before you can approach him and even then, he's powerful. Mother choose our bodies with care; his with strong magic in his flesh and blood, mine with just enough. He'll kill you."

"I don't care. I need to kill him because I'm not allowing you to die," she said as she got to her feet and started to pace around to think. "Do you know where his host body came from?"

"I believe he's a Tremé witch," he replied. "I think. Should be."

"Why?"

"It just feels like it, that's all. Finn is doing things he shouldn't be doing, things that weren't taught to him, which means it comes from the mind of the person he's inhabiting."

Myriam let out a breath and nodded. "If you have a picture of him, send it to me on my phone. Get some rest, I'm going to do a little bit of hunting."

"Myr, you're going to get yourself killed."

"I'll be fine, Mon Chou. Nobody gets to hurt you and get away with it. Not now you're so breakable," she waved her phone around before grabbing a blanket for him. "Rest. I'll be back in a bit."

On her way over to Diane, Kol sent over a picture of Finn's host body, and her anger towards him grew even further. Would she still had been in possession of her demons, she would have ripped him apart without even laying a finger on him.

"Myriam! Twice in such a short amount of time!" Diane greeted her with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Diane, but do you know who this man is?" she showed her friend Finn's image. "I need to find him."

Diane paled a little. "Oh, he's… trouble. He and his ex-wife both are, she's locked up in the Asylum now but…" she sighed as she motioned for Myriam to come inside and rummaged in a drawer to find a picture. "His name is Vincent Griffith. He comes from a long line of powerful Tremé witches. When he was sixteen, he met Eva Sinclair, and she was a wild one," Diane laughed a bit when she handed the picture to Myriam. "When Eva fell pregnant, Vincent wanted to make New Orleans safer for her and their unborn child and rid the city of Marcel Gerard, because living under his rule was not a walk in the park. Vincent discovered a power even stronger and older than the Ancestors, and they both got so enamoured with it that it tore them apart. A tragedy, really. Vincent tried to back out of it, captured Eva when she kidnapped children from various covens to sacrifice them and threw her in the asylum. He then left the coven to live his own life."

Myriam let out a breath and nodded. "That left him vulnerable, and he fell victim to Esther Mikaelson."

"What?"

"Yeah," Myriam sighed. "But don't worry, now I know that he is Tremé at heart, I can take care of him. He's not Vincent anymore, but Finn Mikaelson was put in his body. And I'm going to clean up that mess."

"You mean you're going to kill him."

"I'm going to kill Finn. Yes, he's in Vincent's body, so I suppose that's killing Vincent too. He fucking cursed my best friend to die, and he doesn't deserve to die again, so unless you know someone who's powerful enough to break that curse and hex that was put on my friend while Finn's channelling two very dark and powerful objects, then I'm willing to give that a shot. If not, I need to take him out."

"Myriam…"

"Diane, he's endangering New Orleans. I can't allow that to happen to our city," Myriam said as she rose from her seat. "Thanks for the picture, and the information. I owe you one." She then quickly left the home and headed back to Débauche to talk to her witches to do a locator spell while she was going through her dark objects in her room. She still had the Devil's Star that she had confiscated from Kol after he had killed half the parish of St. Anne's and Dowager Fauline along with it.

She wasn't a fighter. She had always relied on her demons to fight for her. But she had held on to the Devil's Star for all this time in cases like this. There was no way that she could take on a witch that was channelling two very powerful supernatural beings. Even so, there'd be a risk that Finn would see it coming especially since he knew what she looked like.

He hadn't approved of her in Mystic Falls, and she hadn't actually mourned his death. He didn't like her because she actually had made the Mikaelsons into a proper family, and allowed them to be who they were. Even now with Elijah back out of his box and scarred by whatever his mother did to him, Myriam wanted to make sure Elijah wouldn't go back to meddling with the family.

Her witches gave her a location, and after checking in on Kol, who had passed out on her sofa, Myriam headed to the place given to her.

"Myriam. What are you doing here?" Finn questioned her as he spotted her in the doorway. "Do you wish to join my parents?"

"Pass," she retorted. "I came here to talk because I know you're a dick and hate vampires but to go after your siblings? What drugs are you on?"

"The truth. Vampires are an abomination. They're monsters. Mother is trying to fix her mistake."

"Your mother created a whole new subspecies who have learned to thrive and co-exist with the others. Your siblings are closer than they've been in a very long time and you're fucking shit up, it stops now." Finn reached out to hurt her, but she was faster and lodged the Devil's Star in his chest. "How dare you to curse and hex your own brother? Your baby brother who's in a weaker body than yours? How dare you, Finn Mikaelson? You're saying your brothers are monsters, but you're an even bigger one that Elijah is!"

She took out her phone and started to film Finn writhing on the floor, screaming as tiny slices appeared all over his body, blood pouring and squirting out of every slice. It looked glorious.

After he breathed out his last breath, Myriam headed to LaFayette Cemetery where she found Esther and Mikael in a circle, out cold. Sighing, Myriam dialled Klaus' number. "Mon LouLou, how much are you going to love me when I say that I've found Finn's lair where he's channelling your parents?"

" _Tell me where and I'll deal with them, love. I thought you were staying out of this?"_

"I am. I just need to stop the power from them so that Kol's curse and hex will go away."

" _You'd need to-"_

"Kill Finn? Yeah, did that. I'm also pretty sure he didn't jump into another host body, so you're welcome."

" _Bloody hell, Myriam! Now I have to protect you from our sister Freya who's a powerful witch of her own accord and hellbent on reuniting our family!"_

"Well, I suppose she needs a crash course in Mikaelson family politics," Myriam shrugged. "I'll text you the location of your parents and where I killed Finn. And then I'm going back to take care of your baby brother. Oh, and you're welcome."

~o.O.o~

"How could you do this?!" Klaus fumed as he paced the courtyard, pointing at Finn's dead body on the table for everyone to see. Their dessicated parents were on the rug together. "He's my brother, Myriam! He's a pain in the neck, but I'd never go as far as killing them! That's what the box is for!"

"Yes, because that's what you love to do, isn't it? Dagger me repeatedly!" Kol was standing behind Myriam, feeling a lot better and healed.

"I dagger all of you, Kol!" Klaus shot at his brother. "Each and every one of you for your own good! I'd never go as far as killing you, not even Finn! If you don't agree with my motives, then fine! I never claimed to be the bastion of temperance!"

"And I had to kill Finn for Kol to survive, Klaus," Myriam snarled. "And I'm sorry, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have done the same. Finn was an asshole, and he would be the end of you all. I simply couldn't allow Kol to die again, this time at the hands of his brother. So yeah, if this makes me the bad guy, so be it. I don't give a fuck. All I care about is Kol's survival. And yours."

Klaus calmed down somewhat and nodded. "Finn's been dead to me for a long time. Thank you, love, for making it official," he then looked over to his brother Kol. "Oh, don't worry, I'd never kill you, as annoying as you may be."

Myriam was glad to hear that Klaus still accepted Kol as part of their family, he was a Mikaelson, after all. A girl was sniffing in the corner, and Myriam was annoyed by that. "Who the fuck are you?" She then looked at Klaus. "I swear, if that's a whore, I'm going to rip off your manhood and-"

"Relax, love," Klaus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's Rebekah."

When Rebekah looked up, Myriam turned around to punch Kol's shoulder. "You moron! Of all the people you could have jumped Rebekah into, you had to put her into the body of a serial killer?"

"I… what?" Kol blinked at her. "I did no such thing!"

Myriam took the picture Diane had given her out of her pocket and showed it to him before giving it to Klaus. "That's Vincent Griffith and his ex-wife Eva Sinclair, and oh boy, do they have a lovely story." Myriam sat down in a chair with a glass of bourbon and kept an eye on Kol as she told the story of Vincent and Eva. How Eva ended up in the asylum. By the end of the story, Rebekah was slapping Kol silly.

"They'll be coming for me then! For fuck's sake, Kol!" she screeched. "Why did you want to pull one over me like this?!"

"Relax, Bekah," Kol ducked away from her assault. "I can get you back in your body right now if you want to, and we can put Eva back where she belongs."

"Well, not exactly. Freya broke the spell around the cottage when she busted us out," Rebekah sighed. "So what? We hand Eva back to the Tremé witches?"

Myriam nodded slowly. "They'll take care of their own. However, we may have a new problem," she looked at Kol. "The witches will come after you for destroying their asylum and-"

"I didn't! You heard Rebekah, Freya did it!"

"Yes! To break them out! If you hadn't put Rebekah in there, Freya would likely have found a different way to get out of there!" Myriam rolled her eyes at him. "They'll blame you for Eva's return to New Orleans. So, is there an easy way to rebuild your vampire body and put you back where you belong?"

Kol was silent for a moment as he paced the length of the compound. "There might be. If Freya broke the spell on the Asylum, that means she's a very powerful witch. With her and Davina channelling our dead parents and perhaps even Nik, they might be able to resurrect me. However, I believe our dear long lost sister won't be so forthcoming when she learns that you killed her brother."

"Great!" Myriam said chipper. "Then I want you to grab a bag of clothes and your ashes, and you come with me to Débauche. That place is a lot more secure than the Compound is, and I'm going to keep you safe until your sister decides to play ball."

"But that means…"

"That means no more Davina," Myriam nodded as she got to her feet and ruffled his hair playfully. "So, I suppose we need to stop by your playhouse, and I think Klaus has your ashes?"

"Hey hold on, what about me?" Rebekah piped up. "Can you at least fix me before you're being locked up in the ivory tower?"

Kol nodded. "Of course, a promise is a promise."

~o.O.o~

Things quieted down for awhile while the siblings tried to reason with Freya, to get to know her better. Myriam still had to meet her again, but Klaus told her that he'd rather wait with the introduction because after all, Myriam killed Finn to save Kol and Finn was the only brother Freya had known before her abduction by Dahlia.

Kol was bored. Myriam had given him one of the apartments on the top floor, and she could have sworn hearing things blowing up when she was trying to get some rest but didn't tell him to stop. It wasn't fun to hide, to make yourself scarce and basically disconnect from the rest of the world. She was tempted to invite Davina over, and have her go upstairs while the cameras had a malfunction, but it was yet another Claire Kol was messing with.

On the other hand, she couldn't meddle with his love life. Davina seemed to genuinely like Kol and Kol seemed to be smitten as well so, in a moment of weakness, she allowed Davina entrance through the back door and told her where to find Kol and whatever she did, not to linger on the second floor.

When Myriam returned to her office, she found a crumpled note on her desk that she knew she hadn't put there herself.

 _Thank you for keeping my secret all these years. Can we talk? I'm outside. Freya._

She sighed and headed outside. Freya was standing right in front of the door. "You're scaring away the customers like that," Myriam said as she motioned for Freya to come inside. "Come, let's have a seat inside. We serve the best coffee in town."

"No, thanks," Freya replied as she didn't move a muscle. "You killed my brother."

"To save one that was more favourable to everyone in the family and the New Orleans witches," Myriam explained. "You've been hanging around with your siblings for the last few months, what do you think of them?"

Freya wanted to counter with something before having to agree reluctantly with Myriam's words about Finn. "They're arrogant. They think they know everything and they say that family is more important than anything and yet proceed to keep stabbing each other in the back! According to the stories quite literally too! And then there's the paranoia, the anger. The angst! Both Niklaus and Rebekah told me that their lives became better after you entered their lives but how can one person have so much influence on such powerful beings?"

"I had my demons to play with and to threaten them with, but most of all, I've never allowed them to think any less of them than they are or to think of them as monsters because they're not."

"But they are! You are!"

"If I were truly a monster I would have killed you 98 years ago at the Christmas party for spying on your own family, Freya, because my jealousy would have gotten the best of me," Myriam replied. "Besides, no one, not even humans, takes betrayal lightly. I was still human and a witch when I took revenge on my own family for abandoning my mother after falling pregnant with me. There are more human monsters out there than you may realise. Your family is far from it. They protect their own. Fiercely. As do I. And Klaus and Kol are mine."

"You're in a relationship with both?"

"No, but Klaus is my husband, and Kol is my best friend. Anyone who touches them is mine. Like Finn," Myriam repeated. "I don't care how powerful of a witch you are, Freya, but if you hurt my family, I will hurt you."

Freya nodded. "I can appreciate that. Now, I understand that we need to put Kol back in his true body, correct?"

"The body that turned into ash before Klaus' eyes, yes."

"No problem. We still have our parents, and I can channel them. Is Kol ready to go back to being a vampire?"

Myriam hadn't thought about that. All she'd been focused on was to keep him safe in his fragile and mortal body, but she knew that he liked being a witch too much. "I'll have to talk to him about that."

"And do ask him if he and Davina are expecting a baby, please. It's of the utmost importance, for the survival of us all."

Myriam blinked at that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Niklaus didn't tell you about Dahlia? Nor about the deal our mother made with our aunt?"

She blinked at her as she sought her own memories of her discussions of his family with him. "I don't think he really knew of her before now and he hasn't said anything to me recently. Why? What's happened?"

"Dahlia took me away from our mother when I was 5 years old, it was part of the deal Esther had made to become fertile," Freya started to explain. "For as long as Esther's family would live, every firstborn would go to Dahlia. Dahlia bound me to her, and I've been running from her for centuries. But I feel she's drawing closer, and that could be endangering us all before I get the chance to delink myself from her."

"Kol is in this Kaleb's body, and it'd be his DNA. A magical loophole to that deal," Myriam replied. "It wouldn't be Kol's child if she was pregnant. Besides, I would have heard a heartbeat or been able to smell a change in her scent when she came by before. She's the same as when I met her."

"My brothers and sister are infertile… unless… did Niklaus take a lover next to you?"

Myriam growled at that question. "He wouldn't dare if he wanted to keep his cock attached to his body. He's sworn to me over the years he's been faithful. I believe and trust him," she hissed.

Freya let out a breath and nodded. "Then I suppose she figured that I'd be with my siblings, finally. At least we can all rest easy knowing that not another child shall be taken by her."

"Do you want to rid yourself off of Dahlia?"

"Oh, of course! And I know what I need to do to be able to do so, but Niklaus told me not to involve you because you'd say 'no' anyway."

"He's right. Everything involving your parents or now your aunt always ends in misery so I'm staying out of it."

Freya scoffed at her response. "That can't possibly be true!"

Myriam rolled her eyes. "Your father took me as a way to get to Klaus when I was a regular vampire, loading me with vervain, and your mother kidnapped me and wanted to turn me into a vampire killer, but my demons managed to filter out the progress, and while I lost them, I am now an original vampire, like your siblings. So no, thanks. I will stay the fuck away from the Compound even with them dessicated. It's not safe. Débauche is a fortress."

"I understand that Mother is the worst, but Mikael… Niklaus allowed me to revive him and-"

"Oh hell no!"

"He's so nice, kind and warm to me."

"And Klaus is letting him live?"

"For now," Freya nodded. "And Mikael is with Elijah in the dungeon, willingly. For me."

"I'm never going to set foot in the Compound again," Myriam shook her head. "In fact, I might never leave Débauche ever again!"

Freya smiled kindly. "You worry for nothing. You're indestructible."

"Don't tell me what I feel," Myriam shot at her. "Unless Mikael and Esther are both a pile of ash, I'm not coming over for dinner or for a fuck with Klaus. No, you can tell him that if he wants a piece of me, he comes back here," Myriam said as she walked back to her door. "Anything else you wanted to talk about, Freya?"

"You really don't have to be afraid, you know."

"Again, don't tell me how I feel," Myriam opened the door with a sigh. "Thanks for stopping by and not killing me, Freya."

"As you said, you're indestructible, and I seem to be the only one who liked him. Thank you for answering some questions and hearing me out, Myriam. I appreciate it."

"Yeah yeah," Myriam closed the door after getting inside and went to her office to see what she could order from the various takeaway shops in New Orleans. Surely one was open at this time? She didn't want to bother the cook who had a day off today, but she was hungry. Not for blood, but for Gumbo. The greasier, the better.

Myriam checked the security feed and saw that Kol and Davina were in the shared kitchen on the top level together, cooking and having fun. She was tempted to turn on the audio surveillance, but they deserved their privacy. It's likely that Kol took Davina to the common area just so Myriam could see that they were up to nothing but talk and perhaps a bit of magic.

Letting out a groan, she placed her order online and headed upstairs. She needed to talk to Kol about putting him back in his body. "Hi guys," Myriam smiled. "Sorry to disturb your conversation but can we actually have a chat?"

"Of course," Davina smiled. "I'll just go to his room and-"

"Nah, you can stay," Myriam smiled at her as she sat down at the countertop. "So, I just spoke to Freya and the good news is is that she's willing to help you get back into your own body, Kol. To make you durable again and safe from the witches who might have a beef with you for letting out Eva Sinclair."

"I didn't let her out!"

"Your actions did, anyway, I never stopped and wondered to ask you if that's what you want."

"Want what?"

"Be a vampire again. I know you love being a witch, so much, I can imagine you don't want to sacrifice that."

Kol let out a breath and nodded. "I've been thinking about it the last couple of weeks, and it wasn't easy, but I think it's time to give Kaleb his body back. I mean, he's not even that powerful, and I have to use dark objects or even the diamond to boost his power. I'm weak."

"Don't say that," Davina said in barely a whisper. "You're a great witch, Kol. You're smart, and your knowledge is so vast. You're kind and…"

"That'll all be still there when he's back to his usual self," Myriam smiled at Davina. "No matter what his siblings might say. Kol's one of the good guys."

"With serious impulse control issues, but I'm willing to work on that for you, Davina. I truly am. Nothing will change, other than not doing magic with you."

"But you can't!"

"It's not your decision to make," Myriam told her. "It's his."

Kol looked at his girlfriend with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm going to miss being a witch, but my family needs me, and I hate being weak. But nothing will change, Davina, I promise."

Davina withdrew her hand from him and backed away. "I can't be with you when you're a vampire, Kol. I just… vampires are monsters."

"Darling, I told you everything there is about me, and from the time I was a vampire. But I'd still be me!" Kol tried to convince her. "Honest! If you'd just give me a chance!"

"I'm sorry," she said with tears in her eyes and ran towards the stairs.

Kol turned to Myriam and growled. "This is your fault!"

"How is this my fault?!" Myriam replied. "I can't help it that all Claire witches are fickle! In fact, I believed she truly wanted to be with you and perhaps channel you for all of her spells, but I'm surprised that I was wrong about that."

He scowled then. "I'm going to Nik's and get this over with."


	29. Chapter 29

It took about a month of Kol being on his best behaviour before Davina relented and took him back as her boyfriend. A vampire, but still the person he used to be. Myriam thought it was pathetic, really.

Kaleb had left the city upon coming back to his senses and his own body, and Myriam couldn't blame him. If it had been up to her, she would have left as well. But she stayed. Because she'd never run from anything again.

She hadn't left Débauche in a month, either. Klaus came to her when he had time, but she never went to the Compound where he was still keeping his parents and Mikael pretty much on his two feet. Myriam hated it. She hated everything. And she didn't want to get out of bed. It was as if the whole world was spinning and making her nauseous which was stupid because she was a vampire and couldn't get sick.

She had her witches do some spells on her to see if she was under a spell or poisoned or whatever, but they couldn't find anything, and that was so frustrating. Myriam actually burst out in tears over that. There was something wrong with her, she could feel it. She sighed when she felt a familiar depression next to her in bed and rolled into him. "I've missed you."

"What's this nonsense of not wanting to leave your bed, love?" Klaus asked kindly as he put his arms around her. "You have a business to run."

"I know," Myriam sighed.

"Have you been feeding lately? You look a little pale around the nose."

She nodded. "The bare minimum though, just enough not to desiccate, but blood tastes disgusting, so something is wrong, but my witches can't seem to figure out what."

"Perhaps Freya can mean something to you."

"Oh hell no," Myriam huffed. "I don't trust her, Klaus. I believe she's truthful, but I doubt we can trust her."

Klaus sucked in a breath and nodded. His wife had the same suspicions as he did. "Ask Davina. Or some other powerful witch you trust. We'll turn every stone there is to figure it out. Would you perhaps like to talk to Camille? She has some great insights."

"You think I'm crazy?" Myriam asked with a small voice.

"No."

"Then why suggest talking to Cami?

"Well, perhaps you are struggling with something that makes you this inactive, and you can't talk to me about it. Cami asks the right questions."

"I'm not going to talk to Cami," Myriam said as she took out her phone and shot Kol a message. He responded immediately that he and Davina were on their way. "Happy?"

"And what if Davina can't find anything either?"

Myriam huffed.

"Love?"

"Fine. You can call your sister."

~o.O.o~

"Oh, I can smell it," Kol said as he walked into Myriam's apartment. "I could smell it the moment I walked in here!"

"What are you talking about?" Klaus looked at his brother, a confused look on his face. "Smell what?"

"Myriam! Honestly, Nik, you don't know the scent of your own wife? Or perhaps you've forgotten to use your nose around her for the last 300 years?"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Myriam complained, refusing to lift her head from her pillow. "I've been fine - until this issue."

"There's another layer on top of your scent, darling," Kol said as he sat down on the bed next to her, wedging her between him and Klaus. "If my mutt of a brother uses his bloody nose, he'd smell it too. What is strange, however, is that I can't hear that extra heartbeat that usually comes with this thing."

She turned her head to look at him and narrowed her eyes. "What crackhead in which drug den did you drink since you resurrected because what you are implying is impossible. There is absolutely no freaking way that I am pregnant!"

Klaus looked at his brother with a confused look on his face before inhaling Myriam's scent. It was different. It was… new. Like Kol said, another layer mixed with her own. "Impossible or not, I think he's right."

"Alright, let's not freak the vampire out here," Davina said as she swatted Kol on the head. "Let me see," she said as she placed her hands above Myriam's body and started to chant a little spell before being knocked flat on her ass. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Klaus questioned as he pointed to the young witch but remained at his wife's side. "Myriam? Love? Do you know what just happened?"

"How the hell should I know?" Myriam muttered. "I feel worse."

"How is this possible?" Klaus looked at the witch for answers. "I know that us vampires can have a healthy body if, IF, we ingest enough blood to keep everything in check, but a pregnant vampire? That's unheard of!"

"Well, you're part wolf," Kol pointed out. "And you likely don't shoot blanks. As for Myriam… I have no clue…" he said as he hadn't moved from the bed either. "Well… I might. You won't like what I'm thinking."

"Kol," Klaus warned him.

"Two recent events have changed Myriam's course. One; she was an Augustine Vampire. Two; before that, our mother tried to change Myriam into a vampire hunter and changed her entire genetic makeup to make her an Original like us. Mother wanted us dead, yes, but what if she had a failsafe in the spell used on Myriam that would reward her humanity after we'd all die?"

"But we didn't."

"No, and Myriam didn't turn into the vampire hunter mother wanted her to be either, because of her demons."

"This is ridiculous," Myriam huffed as she pushed Klaus off the bed and got to her feet. After a slight wobble, she made it to her dresser. "I want a second- third opinion," she looked at Klaus as he got back to his feet. "Time to get your fucking evil mother out of fucking storage. The bitch and I need to have a fucking chat."

"Love, we could ask Freya-"

"If Kol's right and I have a parasite in me, it's your mother's fault. So, let's go straight to the source."

Klaus was taken aback by that. For months she had avoided coming to the compound because he currently housed his parents in various states of desiccation and she hated them with a passion, one that rivalled his own. His wife didn't look pregnant. But she was right, the only way to be sure that Esther's spell on Myriam had messed with her body was by asking Esther herself.

He wasn't going to allow himself to get excited - yet. A child in their family was something they'd always wanted. Rebekah might get a bit jealous, but she'd be a fantastic aunt. Kol would be the crazy uncle and Klaus the overprotective father. Myriam, the doting mother.

Although the last time Klaus brought a child into the fold Myriam bolted, and many years later killed him while she was under the influence. But this would be their own flesh and blood, surely it would be different this time?

Myriam seemed to stabilise somewhat after she had two glasses of Klaus' blood and was well enough to walk back to the Compound with them, albeit grumpy and very pissed off. She sulked when Klaus took her all the way down to the dungeons with a few bags of blood to rouse his mother from her slumber, but he didn't want to risk his mother running away.

Once she was on her feet, Klaus compelled her to speak the truth whenever he or Myriam would ask a question, that way, they knew that everything coming out of her mouth was true.

"Have you come to kill me, again?"

"Oh, I'd really love to," Myriam replied as she stood behind Klaus for safety. "And depending on how this conversation will go I actually might."

"Behave, love," Klaus told her quietly.

"I honestly don't know why you're keeping her alive, seriously!"

"For times like these," he replied before looking at his mother. "What exactly did you do to Myriam back in Mystic Falls?"

"I had her in my possession for a few days so I could prepare her for the spell that would turn her into a vampire hunter, like your father. I thought it'd be irony for the one you love so much to be your downfall, Niklaus."

"Why her?"

"Because she took Alaric from me after she cleansed him, of course. I couldn't allow that to happen," Esther said as she propped herself up against a wall. "I hadn't known about her demons being so tenacious and fiercely protective of their master. They ripped away every part of the spell that was harmful to her and those she loved and left her being an Original vampire, like yourself. They sacrificed themselves to save their master."

"What else did you do with the spell, Mother? Kol suspects you did more."

"Oh, of course! Should she have completed her task by killing all of you, she'd revert back to being a human to live out the rest of her miserable life alone," Esther smiled then. "Call it a reward, if you will. But I doubt it stuck like most of my spell didn't." Esther then sniffed the air and blinked. "How is that possible? You smell like a human. Or at least a part of you."

"Both Kol and I suspect her to be with child, mother. Because of your spell and the interference of Myriam's demons, is that possible?"

"With her? Anything is possible, but Niklaus, if she's truly with child, Dahlia will come for us all! She will take the child and cause eternal suffering for you!"

"It's fine, we're not keeping it anyway if I am. How do we get rid of it?" Myriam said coldly. "Davina couldn't even find it with her magic without being knocked on her ass. It's a parasite, it makes me feel weak and lethargic. It needs to go."

"You could try to ask Freya for help. If Myriam's truly with child, she'd be able to pierce through every defence the child may have at this point as Freya's kin," Esther suggested, still not wiping the look of worry off of her face. "Niklaus, Dahlia will come for that child."

Myriam growled and snapped Esther's neck before making her way upstairs to the courtyard to pour herself a big glass of bourbon. There was no way that she was pregnant and if she was, Esther was a terrible witch, one that couldn't even work around demons with her spells. Why had she ever been so afraid of the woman when all she could do was fail?

Even so, magic was fickle and it was entirely possible that Myriam was pregnant; it wasn't as if she'd been turned into an Original vampire after being a regular vampire for so long, or been the victim of some crazy scientist turning her into a Ripper who liked to munch on vampires instead of humans. The universe had one hell of a sense of humour.

No, if she had something inside of her, it was likely some magical parasite draining Myriam from all of her energy, no matter how much or how little she ate. Witches were good at shit like this. Yes. She wasn't pregnant. And Freya was going to fix Klaus or else. What if he'd father a child with another werewolf? Or a human? Myriam would kill them all, and her husband would be so angry because a child was what the family had yearned for for years. Marcel was adopted, but a flesh and blood child…

Oh.

If she were pregnant, she'd have to fight her family over it because there was no way that Myriam was going to give birth. Nor care for a child. No way in hell was she going to take care of a child. She wasn't maternal. She liked to help people, but raise a child? Hell no.

Oh, hell no.

She knocked down her glass of bourbon and poured herself another. She could just run away and forget it all, but she was still feeling so lethargic that running away sounded like a chore. She sat down on one of the sofa's and sighed deeply. There was no doubt that Klaus had already called Freya and there was no doubt in her mind that Klaus was already thinking that she was with child.

Oh, hell no.

Drowning her glass, she reached for the bottle for a refill and growled when Klaus took it away from her. "Give that back. I've earned it after having dealt with your mother and no doubt Freya is on her way."

"And I doubt she'd want you drunk, love," he said kindly as he sat down next to her, a worried expression on his face. "And what if Freya won't be able to determine that you're carrying?"

"Then we're going to carve open my stomach and pull whatever it is out of there and throw it away," she said as she tried to crawl over him to get to her bottle of alcohol. "We are not raising a child!" she then paused for a moment as she was sitting on Klaus' lap with her knees. "Oh, I know! We could give it to Dahlia! She loves to be a mother, doesn't she?"

"Why are you doing this, love?" he sighed as he threw the bottle of alcohol across the courtyard against a pillar, smashing it to pieces. Klaus then sat her back down next to him and looked at her, truly looked at her and what he saw broke his heart. She was scared shitless. "Talk to me, Myriam," he said kindly. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I don't understand why you're not even remotely upset about the fact that it's possible that I'm a pregnant vampire," she stated angrily. "Haven't I been through enough?"

"You speak of children as if they're a burden."

"I love children. When they're not mine," she crossed her arms over her chest. "They're noisy. Loud. Stinky. Demand attention constantly and they're fucking adorable and fragile. But we're vampires, Klaus. The child will be born into a family made out of mostly vampires with anger issues and paranoia, and they will inherit our enemies."

"If a child should be born into our family, they'll have some very cool aunts and uncles who would do anything to protect them from our enemies, and they won't have anything to worry about," Klaus assured her. "Myriam, when I brought Marcel into our family, we weren't ready for it, but your influence has changed us all, for the better."

"I am not mother material!"

"You'll be an excellent mother, Myriam, I promise you that."

She hit him in the chest then and got to her feet to walk to the other table with bottles of alcohol on it. "And why the fuck is shit like this always happening to me? Can't I get like a break? Couldn't this have happened to Rebekah? I'm sure she'd be a great mother! Hell, even Kol and Davina would be better parents than me!"

When Freya entered the courtyard, Myriam thought she smelled delicious and made an attempt to take a bite out of her out of frustration, but the oldest Mikaelson flung her across the courtyard. "What is this? Kol told me about what happened to her a few months ago, did she have a relapse?"

"That's for you to find out, sister," Klaus sighed as he pulled Myriam to her feet and made sure she was in one piece before making her sit down in a chair again. "Myriam hasn't been herself lately, and up until today, she hadn't left her bed for almost a week. We had Davina come in who couldn't be of any use. Before that, Myriam had her own witches try to figure out what was wrong but they came up empty as well. Now, we have a theory and our mother admitted that it could be a possibility."

"You want me to check her over?" Freya blinked at him. "All those other witches have failed."

"You're not any witch, you're my sister," Klaus begged her. "Please."

"Niklaus, I don't have time for this, Dahlia is drawing close, and I still haven't figured out why or how on Earth she could have found me."

"If our theory is correct, you might be able to get more than those other witches have gotten previously," Klaus said carefully.

Freya's jaw dropped then. "What! How!"

"We'll discuss the how later, please, all we need is confirmation." He looked at Myriam for a moment before looking back at his sister. "I promise, she won't bite."

Freya sighed and nodded before sitting down on the table in front of her brother and his wife and took her hands. Closing her eyes, she quietly chanted a spell as feelings and emotions flooded over her. "Someone's good at hiding," Freya smiled as she concentrated. "It's already using their magic to remain hidden until it's time to come out, but that takes a lot of energy which it draws from you, Myriam. It's no wonder you've been feeling ill and out of sorts."

"It's a parasite."

"Only a parasite of the good kind," Freya opened her eyes to look at Myriam with tears in her eyes. "You're expecting a baby in five months."

"The hell I am," she muttered. "Take it out."

Freya nervously laughed. "I can't."

"Then get me a knife and I will!" Myriam growled.

"You won't," Freya said as she put her hand on Myriam's stomach. "Your child is protecting itself, and therefore, you. You're even more indestructible as you previously were. It's why Davina bounced herself off of you when she tried figuring things out and why your witches didn't come up with anything, either. Whether you like it or not, that child is coming in five months or so."

"Fuck this shit," Myriam said as she swatted Freya's hand away and headed towards the exit. "I'm going to find a way!"

"It's not your decision to make!" Klaus snarled as he walked after her. "Not by yourself! You can't run away from this, Myriam and you can't make this decision on your own because it's our child! You heard Freya, there's nothing you can do about this, and the baby will come. Our baby."

"Then we'll give it to Dahlia so she can fuck off again!"

"What!" Freya blurted. "Are you out of your mind! Do you have any idea what she'll do to your child? Myriam, that's the last thing you'd want!"

"Stop telling me what I want!" Myriam yelled before speeding back to Débauche and telling her security that none of the Mikaelsons were allowed entrance to the club before going back to her apartment with a bottle of bourbon.

~o.O.o~

That night, the Mikaelsons had a family meeting about Myriam. Klaus had decided to leave his wife alone, for now, because she was being unreasonable. Rebekah was, as expected, happy to hear that their family was going to get an expansion and Kol was excited to become an uncle. Cami was present as well as Davina because by now they were practically furniture in the Compound.

"To be honest, Nik, I understand where Myriam's coming from," Kol sighed as he took a sip of his drink. "We've always promised her to protect her, no matter what and yet, look what she's endured over the years. Even at our hands. Your hands. Esther. Mikael. The Augustine Society… the fact that she hasn't completely lost her mind or the will to live is beyond me. Compared to us, she always was fragile."

"Are you insinuating that your best friend is mentally unstable?" Klaus angrily shot at his brother. "Do dare to say that to her face and see what happens."

"You know I'm right!"

"You're wrong," Klaus shot at him. "She's the strongest of all of us. Always fought hard to keep us together, to make sure we all got along. She's the sole reason why you're still out of your box."

Cami looked between the arguing brothers and raised her hand. "If I may?" she asked before continuing. "From the stories I've heard about her from you, I can say that you're both right. But did she ever get council for everything she's endured?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Cami smiled kindly at Klaus. "You yourself told me that talking to me about your issues was the first time you truly spoke to someone outside your family to get insights. Did Myriam have someone like that? To help her navigate through all the troubles that she's had?"

"She has me."

"Other than you, Klaus. You're too close," she laughed. "And frankly, not really on her emotional level."

"Well, she found herself living with a vampire hunter for awhile two years ago after Kol died," Klaus sighed. "I was back in New Orleans at that time, but she wasn't ready to come home yet."

"She doesn't particularly like Alaric anymore," Kol scowled. "Don't get me wrong, he had a great influence on her and adopted some good ideas from him on how to deal with her issues, but he hurt her. I should go and rip his heart out for that, but she told me not to."

"Is there anyone else she had a connection to that's not you?"

"Why do you ask, Camille?" Klaus asked as he tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. "My wife has lost her mind, obviously."

"No, she hasn't. She's terrified, Klaus. Likely even beyond that, and when people experience that much fear, they tend to be irrational. So, I'll ask again, is there anyone still living that she had a connection with? Because that child will come, no matter what, and it'd be in both their interests if she'd be okay with that."

"Well… to be fair," Rebekah piped up. "Nik is the prime example of lashing out when he's terrified if there's anyone who could get through to her it'd be him."

"He's too close to her, Rebekah. What she needs is someone impartial. Someone who knows her and who she had a bond with to be a mediator of sort between herself and her feelings," Cami explained. "Come on, there must be someone who still gives a crap about her?"

"And why are you saying that?" Klaus snapped. "She's adored by everyone!"

Rebekah sighed as she twirled her hair around her finger. "Not really. The whole Mystic Falls gang ganged up on her after finding out that she was married to the big bad wolf who was willing to sacrifice everyone to break his curse."

Kol looked at Klaus. "I know someone."

"No. I don't want him in my city!" Klaus shot at his brother. "He will not set one foot in my city, I'll kill him on sight because he was supposed to be her friend, but in the end, he betrayed her!"

"But deep down, he still cares for her. I've seen that on occasion when she and I tried to stop you lot from raising Silas," Kol pointed out. "He hurt her, yes, but he might just be the person we need to help her."

"Whoever it is, I suggest you get him fast," Cami spoke up.

Klaus scowled. "This is a bad idea."

"Klaus, do you want to help your wife or not?"

"Fine!" Klaus blurted before looking at his brother. "You go back to Mystic Falls and fetch me Damon Salvatore, and God help me for not tearing him to shreds when he's in front of me!"

~o.O.o~

Kol hated to be back in Mystic Falls. For some reason, he could still feel the fire that consumed him lingering in his bones after setting foot on the soil. He hated having have to deal with the idiots, but this was for Myriam's good.

He knocked on the door of the Salvatore home and waited patiently for the door to open. He was going to try to be nice about it, be a reasonable person and not to fly in a blind rage, because his brother had been right, Damon Salvatore was one of those who hurt their Myriam, and they shouldn't be allowed to walk this earth. It was because of Myriam that he was still alive.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Damon's voice sounded as the door swung open. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"I was. And then I wasn't," Kol replied. "Good to see you, Damon, I'm not here to hurt you," he added before taking one of Elijah's white handkerchiefs out of his pocket and waved it around. "I'm calling for a truce."

Damon narrowed his eyes on Kol. "Is Myriam alright? Is that why you're here?"

"Do you know something I don't?" Kol said surprised. "You act as if you were expecting something."

"Yeah," Damon nodded as he closed the door behind him. "I'll explain on the way."


	30. Chapter 30

"I wasn't dreaming about this," Myriam muttered as she looked around. She was standing in an empty Mystic Falls square. The tent was there, the Grill, everything like she remembered it to be. But it wasn't her dream. Her dream had been filled with cabbage fields but the cabbages were baby heads, and it was creepy as they were crying their literal heads off.

It was then she noticed Damon sitting on one of the benches and waving her over. "Hello, gorgeous!"

She sighed as she sat down next to him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm doing this with everyone's permission," Damon assured her as he gently tapped her on her leg. "I figured we needed to have a chat and this was the only way that I could assure my safety."

Myriam looked at him, confused for a moment. "You're leaving me too?"

"What!" Damon huffed as he put an arm around her. "No! But you're making it kinda hard for me to be your friend still, you know, because of you choose who you're hanging out with."

"Still that, huh?" she got up from the bench. "Yeah, you know what? I understand you don't like my husband, but to think that I'm anything like him and that I've changed overnight after he came to town still hurts, Damon. But in your mind, I'm associated with Klaus, and that makes me the bad guy too. And I'm not going to fight you on that again. But I'm also not going to talk to you. So, let me go."

"Nah," Damon didn't move from his seat. "I brought you in here because this is where we had some of our best talks, even before Klaus made his presence known. You know, when you were Myriam Hawthorne? You warned me about people and disapproved of Katherine because you knew her."

"It wasn't as if you listened," she sulked as she kicked against a rock.

"I liked that Myriam very much."

"That Myriam is dead. I have a big scarlet red headstone to prove it."

"Is she, though? Because when we met again, you were doing the same thing. You protected me and in a way, Stefan. You cared. It wasn't until Klaus came to town that you decided to stop controlling yourself and it lead us to fear you even more than we needed to fear Klaus," Damon said kindly. "And Kol said the same, you know. You're the only one who fought for him, while he was dead and after he came back."

"But let me guess, it's the in-between bits that you hate."

He shrugged. "We all have our moments. I'm not here to judge you on your body count, because I want to bet mine is still higher. But you killed Caroline and mutilated Stefan."

"Eye for an eye."

"I happened to care about both."

"Tough. You're a vampire, get over it."

"And you are a supernatural mystery," Damon finally got to his feet and looped his arm through hers as he started to walk around the square with her. "The witch turned vampire turned Original Vampire turned Vampire ripper and back to your Original self. Not to mention everything you've seen and experienced over the years… I don't want to be you."

"Gee, thanks."

"So I understand that you're scared about your current status," Damon replied with a sigh. "And it's a tough cookie to swallow because I know that you were alright with not having children. You accepted the fact that you were barren - I didn't know back then that you were a vampire, but still."

"I'm not having this baby, Damon."

"I'm not saying you should, it's your decision, but you do have to realise that the Mikaelsons want this baby. It's their blood. So either way, you'll have to deal with it anyway. And you could run, but you love Klaus so much that you'd return eventually," he said with a shrug. "And to be honest, I think you'd be a great mother."

"What!"

"No, seriously," he laughed. "It's why I suggested you allowed my uncle Zak to take care of you. Not because you were older and because I took pity on you, but because you'd make a great mother. Because you are capable of kindness. You take so much care of your life, the people around you. You're fair, and you're always willing to help someone out."

"And look where that got me."

"Yeah well… between all the good bits you do stuff we don't agree on so…" Damon shrugged. "But Myriam, you don't have to be so vicious anymore. You're reunited with your family. Kol is back in the land of the living, and you have so many people who are more than willing to do the dirty work for you. And you have your club back! This place is amazing, Myriam! I'm so proud of you for carving out your own little patch of normal in this crazy world."

"I set that business up 300 years ago, Damon. It's always been mine even when I was off doing things for Klaus or fleeing from Mikael."

"And I know you take great pride in it."

"And you're going to tell me that I'm going to be a proud mother? That's just ridiculous. Vampires shouldn't have children!"

"But you were human once. What were your thoughts then?"

"That was a different life. I was poor, homeless and I was constantly raped. It's a damn near miracle that I never got pregnant then," she spat as they continued to circle the square.

"Surely you dreamt about it?"

"Dreams are just that. It wasn't in the cards for me. Nobody wanted me for a wife. The colour of my skin would have made me a servant or a companion like my mother and I would have ended up just like her."

"But what if?"

Myriam sighed, knowing that Damon wouldn't give up. "It's not something I wish to discuss."

"Well, I do."

She was quiet for a moment as she thought of what she felt back then when she was still human. "I was so in love with Klaus back then, and sure, I even imagined what it'd be like if I'd have his children, but he was a vampire and couldn't conceive. I never even brought it up in conversations because Rebekah kept talking about wanting to be human, like me, and start a family. When I came to the New World on my own, as a married woman, I saw all those women with their husbands and children, and I knew that that would never be a possibility for me. Klaus would never allow someone else than him to bed me and even Klaus bedding me took nearly 30 years. So again, I gave up, and when I turned, that dream was forever gone. As the years progressed, I learned to accept it. Even if I had been a human still, the constant threat of Klaus' enemies and his father haunted me. Our child would never have a safe haven. A safe place," she rubbed her eyes with her free hand to crush the tears that were coming out of them. "Instead, I cared for my demons as if they were my children. By treating them well, they served me well."

"And then Esther turned you into a different kind of vampire, and you lost them as well."

"Yeah… now I don't have anything but the club."

"Klaus told me about his mother's spell. You would have reverted back to being a human after you'd completed the task she sent out for you."

"Yeah, well, her spell was meant to do more things, and my demons thankfully stopped all that, I just wished they would have interfered with turning me part human again, too."

Damon nodded as he led her to the coffee place and got them something to drink. "Dr Wes Maxfield and the Augustines knew about your condition."

She blinked at him then. "What?"

He let out a breath. "After Elena and I were cured, I went back there to see if we could find a cure for you. I found a list of everyone associated with the Augustines and killed them all. Raided their homes for their files. I found my own file. Enzo's. Elena's. Back in the day, they liked to open us up and remove vital organs, studying the healing qualities of a vampire in a hope to cure illnesses or grow new limbs. Hurt like a bitch, especially when your eye would be scooped out on a daily basis. Or your pancreas cut out of you… Enzo and I were the ones providing them with all the scientific data they needed and desired."

"I wanted to go back and kill them," Myriam muttered.

"Elena's file was pretty straightforward, but yours? Not so much. You kept passing out and coming to and administered the compound several times, but it wouldn't stick. So, instead, they cut you open and found a fully functional womb with a fetus in it."

"What?"

"And they cut it out. The fetus died, but they put it in one of those jars with fluid in them and stuff. After that, they could do whatever they wanted with you. That fetus protected you from the ripper compound."

"I was pregnant before?"

Damon nodded slowly. "They wanted to keep you around because you were the vampire who could get pregnant but Wes wanted to test the compound instead and alienated most of the board of trustees."

"I was pregnant before, and they killed it?!" she slammed her hand on the table. "What the actual fuck!"

"I found the jar and took it to your headstone in Mystic Falls. Dug a hole and gave it a proper burial for you. I… I didn't say anything because you were so out of it and I didn't trust Klaus with this information."

"Did Alaric know?"

"No. I didn't tell anyone. Not even Stefan or Elena. But I did compel Alaric to forget that I drained him of his blood to get the vervain out and that he needed to go to New Orleans to keep an eye on you," Damon admitted, a playful smile on his face. "I must admit, he was home faster than I ever expected, whatever you did, he surely mustn't have liked that."

"Killed his witchy friend who wanted to syphon the compound out of me but she'd take my extra strength and durability along with it," she muttered. "See? I only kill someone when they deserved it. Stefan is still alive because even though he deserves death, I thought it'd be funny if he didn't have a leg."

"He has grown a new leg."

"Fucker. I'll have to come back then."

"No," Damon shook his head laughing. "You're going to leave Stefan alone, and you're going to enjoy being pregnant with an impossible and magical baby that's yours and your husband's. You finally got what you wanted all these years ago, and you should embrace this with open arms. After all the crap you've endured, you finally have something positive in your life."

"But I'll be a horrible parent! And what about our enemies? There's literally an immortal aunt on the loose who had made a deal with their mother that every firstborn Mikaelson will be taken away by her! I can't keep a child safe!"

"You'll be a great mother, Myriam," Damon took her hand and squeezed it. "All you need to do is to be more in touch with your emotions because I have the feeling that you have stopped allowing yourself to feel much than just the surface of things."

"If I don't keep a lid on my feelings then I'd be an emotional wreck. We don't want to go there, Damon," she warned him. "There's not knowing what I'd do if I felt as deeply as I felt as a human. Likely kill more. Paint New Orleans red. Literally," Myriam rubbed her eyes again as the tears kept falling. "Because I fucking lost a child that I didn't know I was pregnant within the first place and if I allow myself to feel that deeply, I just want to raise the entire Whitmore campus and school to the ground. Set it all on fire, kill everyone."

"And I did that for you. All the medical information about all the subjects and shit is gone. The fire was amazing. You need to allow yourself to be taken care of, Myriam. That's why you have a family. A husband. A great best friend. You no longer have to protect them or yourself. Allow them to take care of you so you can be your best self and take care of that miracle baby of yours."

"But-"

"You deserve it. You're a Queen, Myriam. Klaus literally worships the ground you walk on even though he has a shitty way of showing it. He may not win the award for husband of the year, but he did tell Kol to come and get me so we could have a talk about what's going on. Because you know I'm right."

"But I'm afraid, Damon."

"And you should!" Damon laughed. "That's the joy of being a parent, live in fear all the damn time because your child could stub their toe or cut themselves open! And when they're a teenager, who knows what they'll bring home? Every new mom is afraid, and you can't ever be ready to become a mother, but you adjust and adapt. Your child will be safe. In fact, I bet it'll be safer in your family than a normal child is with human parents."

"But-"

"I tell you what," Damon smiled at her. "I'm currently sharing your bed with you. Good thing you told your security guys that no Mikaelson was allowed to enter the building because your husband doesn't like me much, but… I want to take you somewhere after you wake up and continue this conversation, what do you think? Think you can do that without ripping my heart out?"

Myriam let out a chuckle. "Sure."

"Good, now wake up."

~o.O.o~

Damon told her to take a shower and freshen herself up and feed appropriately before they headed out. Myriam was feeling lighter for some reason and thanked Damon for that. "Don't thank me yet," he had said as they went to the first hospital they could find and headed straight to the maternity ward where, as it happened, a bunch of mothers were walking around with their big bellies.

"Excuse me," Damon asked one of them. "Hi," he smiled. "My name is Damon, and this is my girlfriend Hope, and I was wondering if you could tell her how you were feeling."

"Excuse me?"

"Hope's pregnant and scared shitless."

The woman barked out a laugh. "Oh! Who here isn't? Is it your first, sweetheart?" the woman said as she took her hand and led her to sit down somewhere. "Everyone's afraid with their first. Or their second. Or third… because we as mothers don't know if we can handle it. Or we think the world is a scary place. Or we have money woes. When I had my first, I freaked out. My husband couldn't calm me down, and I was paranoid about just about everything. The baby had to get everything new, cleaned. Everything was, and when people wanted to touch my baby I had them clean their hands with antibacterial soap first!"

"That's a bit overboard…" Myriam muttered.

"It is," the woman nodded. "My best friend was pregnant around the same time as I was, the wife of a cop. She begged her husband to stay home all the time because she didn't want to risk raising the baby by herself."

"I can imagine…"

"But it gets better. Once you have your bundle of joy in your arms, you feel as if you can take on the world! You'll realize that sanitizing everything for your child does more harm than good or that your husband needs his job so he can keep a roof over your head. The fear never goes away, but if you surround yourself with the right people, it'll be just fine. I promise," she squeezed Myriam's hand. "This is my fourth child, and it might be my last, but who knows? Children are such a blessing and so worth the fear and anxiety. Just roll with it."

"That's easier said than done…"

The woman shrugged then. "That's the best way, really. Women have been giving birth for millennia, and every single one at some point has been scared out of her wits. But everything will be fine. I promise."

"Thank you," Myriam smiled at her. "I feel a lot better."

"Good, because a stressed out mom is bad for the baby," the woman smiled. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have to go back to the ward, I think that baby number four is about to be born."

"Good luck," Myriam watched as the woman waddled away from them before pointing at her. "Why don't I look like that?"

"You're a vampire. Of course, you're not showing," Damon huffed. "Or it could be your baby's magic. Klaus said that his sister said it was hiding?"

"Yeah, okay, makes sense," Myriam sighed as she got to her feet. "Alright, let's go and meet with my husband… after I make a short stop at a pharmacy to get him something."

~o.O.o~

She had taken Damon's hand as she walked into the courtyard where the entire family was sitting as she had requested, enjoying a drink. "Thank you," Myriam said as she came to a halt before them. "For… bringing Damon to me. He was a big help."

"You look a lot better, love," Klaus smiled at her as he got to his feet to greet her properly. "Are you feeling better?"

"I still feel that this whole thing is being forced upon me but yeah, sure, let's roll with it," she shrugged before handing Klaus a gift bag. "That's for our future adventures together. Should we be able to get another, at least I want to have some say in it."

Klaus looked in the gift bag and then looked at her, shocked. "What!"

"Hey, I'm a vampire, modern medicine doesn't work on me. You're so going to suit up after this kid is born!" Myriam smiled at him before sitting down next to Kol and grabbed his glass of alcohol.

"No, no, darling," he said as he took it from her hands. "No more alcohol for you. If it's true what Damon says about you, your insides work differently than ours."

"The technical term they used for Myriam was hybrid," Damon said, not daring to move an inch in an area filled with Original vampires, even though he was confident he was going to be left alone. "A human with regenerative abilities. Something between a human and a vampire. It's likely you won't even need blood anymore."

"But you told me that-" She could feel the anger rise inside of her but tried to keep her cool. She'd promised Damon.

"I didn't want to upset you, I know how much you like to be an Original vampire, indestructible. You still are, just… more human. With fangs and impenetrable skin."

"So my insides are human, but the rest of me is supernatural," she quipped as she got to her feet. "Great! Now if you'd excuse me, I have a former witch to kill!"

Kol stopped her with a smirk on his face.

"What?"

"It's not Mother's fault. Her spell would have worked perfectly if your pesky pets hadn't interfered."

"My pets saved me from killing you! If your mother hadn't taken me for some sense of irony, then I would still have been a fucking vampire. Fragile, sure, but just imagine, it's so easy to incapacitate me now! Just slip me some poison, and I'd be down until my body would heal itself! I only had to worry about vervain and wolf bites before!"

"I'm all for killing Mother," Freya nodded. "Because of her, I grew up with Dahlia, who, by the way, is still coming." Freya took Myriam's hand and took her down to the dungeons with her. "Let's do some bonding, shall we?"

"Nice and slow?" Myriam smiled widely. "I did that with another vampire, I sent her parts as a present to Damon and Stefan. Even Klaus, because he had shown an interest in her."

"Oh, hell yes."

"I think not," Klaus was unamused. "I find her rotting away a much better option," he took the hands of his sister and his wife and took them back upstairs. "If you truly want to do something, I suggest you go back to Débauche and get your belongings. You're coming home, Myriam."

"The hell I am," she stood next to Damon who hadn't moved at all, which was so unlike him. "They won't kill you, you know," Myriam playfully elbowed him.

"I just want to get out of here, unless you need me?"

"I'd like it if you'd stick around but I understand that you don't want to."

"Nah, we're dealing with some idiot right now in Mystic Falls, and Stefan and Elena will likely fuck shit up, so I'd better go," he placed a kiss on her cheek. "Call me when you want a talk or to vent, okay?"

"I'll try."

Damon smiled then and left immediately. It was then when Rebekah almost jumped up and hugged Myriam tightly. "I'm going to be an aunt! Myriam, you have to move back in here so we can protect you and the baby."

"I don't have to do anything," Myriam said as she gently pushed Rebekah away from her and sat down in Klaus' lap. "Débauche is safer than the compound."

"Nonsense!" Rebekah huffed.

"Do I need to remind you that your mother snuck in and gave us breakfast? That won't happen in Débauche," she then looked at Klaus and smiled. "Unless you can close all exits and allow me to turn this place into a fortress as well?"

He gently took her hand and kissed it. "Love, you are safe here, even without your reinforcements. Rebekah is right, you should move back in and if you feel safer by having our rooms protected by the same magic you have over at your club, then so be it. But not the entire building."

"You're really willing to do that for me?"

"All you need to do is ask, love. It's all you've ever needed to do, but you never do."

"Because I don't want to be a bother."

"You're my wife, you're never a bother unless you run away and hide. Because you're making me feel worried when I'm not near you."

Myriam sighed as she put her head on Klaus' shoulders and noticed that everyone had given them some privacy. "I'm sorry I reacted the way that I did."

"That's alright, love, I'm afraid as well."

Myriam bit her lip as she looked up at him as she remembered her conversation with Damon. "I need to tell you something… well… a lot. But I don't want anyone to overhear us, because it needs to be between you and me. Can we go to Débauche for the night?"

"Of course," he softly kissed her. "But tomorrow we're going to make our rooms to your liking because I do wish for you to move back in with us."

"That's fine."

"Really?"

Myriam nodded. "Yes. It's time that we find a middle ground, you and I, and I'm willing to give up my residence in Débauche for that. But I won't stop running it."

"I'm not asking you to," he smiled at her and helped her to her feet. "Very well, let's have a quiet evening without eavesdroppers."

They picked up some food along the way, and Myriam lifted the Mikaelson ban with her security before taking Klaus upstairs with her. Spreading their food - which was some Chinese and local cuisine - on the table, she sighed. "What did Damon tell you exactly?"

"Merely about his experiences with the Augustines himself and how they knew that you were a special kind of vampire. One that they preferred to keep due to your insides," he replied as he took a bite off his food. "He kept it a secret from everyone including us to keep you safe."

Myriam nodded as she toyed with her food, suddenly not that hungry anymore. "I want to tell you a few things, and I want you to promise to let me finish before saying anything."

"You can tell me anything, Myriam, you know this."

"I know, but some things were better kept a secret because whatever you'd try, it wouldn't be able to happen, frivolous things that don't really matter," she got up and sat down in his lap. Her chairs at the table were comfortable, and she had chosen them for this reason specifically so she could just be lazy and feel like a cat. "You know how little girls usually dream of having children, right? Become a mother?"

"Of course. Rebekah drove us mad by wanting to play her version of house when we were growing up. She's always wanted to be a mother, and I'm sure she'll be a great aunt to our child."

"For a while, I had those dreams too. I played house with my friends. I wanted to be just like my mother until I found out what she'd really been prior to falling pregnant with me and then I knew that her fate was going to be mine. We were too poor to go up in life. The colour of our skin, while accepted, still worked against us. I was resigned to be a servant or become like my mother, and that was going to be the only way I was ever going to get children of my own. And that sucked. My mother struggled raising me on her own. So I pushed that thought aside. When she died, and I went to look for better opportunities, I was at risk of falling pregnant all the time, I'm surprised that didn't happen then."

Klaus nuzzled her ear. "I'm sure you would have found a lovely gentleman eventually, Myriam."

She barked out a laugh then. "In that time? No. And then I kidnapped Kol, and he kidnapped me right back. I didn't have to worry with him because with him being a vampire, it meant that he couldn't get me pregnant. And then with you… I never felt the things for Kol as I feel for you, Klaus. He'll always be my best friend, I never saw him as anything else but you… even now you only have to look at me, and I melt into a puddle of drool. I feel you in every fibre of my being. You're a part of me."

"I feel the same, love," he whispered as he continued to nuzzle her earlobe.

"But especially then, you were not open to any romantic feelings, and that was alright, I'm a patient woman, and I waited for you," she smiled as she leaned into him to stop him from doing what he was doing. "I always believed you'd be a great father and it was a shame that you were a vampire. I even had my demons look for ways to make you fertile again or even if there was anything magical I could do but we came up empty. So I forgot about having children, again. Resigned to the fact that I wanted to spend my life with you and that meant without any offspring."

"My apologies love, I wasn't aware that-"

"It's alright," she smiled at him. "It's something a woman tends to keep to herself. Usually, the thought of having children would scare men away. When we married, and you sent me off to the New World, it wasn't easy. All these women with their husbands, falling pregnant, having babies, doing their duty for the colony and there I was. Alone. For a long while, I wished I'd be raped and be pregnant so that we could have a child of our own. Because I knew that while the child wouldn't be yours, you were going to love it nonetheless."

She let out a long sigh and shook her head. "And then I died. Turned. And I had to give up on the idea completely, and I was fine with it. I got what I wanted; I could spend my days with you for eternity, and that's what I liked above everything else. When you brought Marcel into the mix, I hadn't thought about becoming a mother for so long and couldn't even remember what my own mother was like so I left you for you to take care of him on your own. You didn't give me a choice at that point."

"Why didn't you say anything about this before?"

"Because it wasn't important, and later, impossible."

"But Rebekah talks about it all the time."

"She's still a teenager at heart, Klaus. She may be over a thousand years old, but emotionally she's not older than maybe 20. It's the age where you still want things, no matter how impossible. I was realistic and kept my dreams to myself."

"And yet, here we are," he smiled as he placed his hand on her stomach. "You are carrying my child."

"If it weren't for your mother and my demons, this wouldn't have been possible. And I was freaking out because this is impossible and I am impossible. I mean…" she let out a breath. "This is going to be hard to hear, and it made me so very angry, and it still does but… Damon told me what Dr Wes did to me and what the Augustines did to him in the past. Wes found out that I was a special kind of vampire because when he took me, he opened me up to see why the serum he developed wasn't working. And found that I had a uterus and a fetus in it."

"What! You were pregnant then?"

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "He cut everything out of me and put it in a jar with preservation fluids and then the serum took. I was likely crazy with hormones still but…"

"I'm going to kill him!"

"Damon went back after he was cured," she said as she put a hand on his mouth. "Found everyone involved with the society and killed them all. Took their research and burned it all. He found his file and Enzo's, and mine. He read mine and burnt it. He took the jar with our baby in it and gave it a proper burial in the plot that I'd reserved for myself for the person who I was in 1864 in Mystic Falls."

"Everything's gone?"

Myriam nodded.

"Well, at least he's not completely useless then…"

"And he kept my secret, even from me, to keep me safe. Because while you're a vampire-werewolf hybrid, I'm a vampire, but on the inside, I'm still human. I don't know how that works, exactly, but I'm a vampire that can get pregnant. Just imagine if the word got out…"

"Don't worry, love," he brushed her lips with hers. "Nobody outside our family will know about this, and you're right in being worried about security at the compound. So our rooms, including the one we decide to become the nursery, will be secure to your standards."

"I can bring in the people I used for Débauche?"

He nodded. "As long as the rooms will be accessible to our family."

"Thank you," she smiled at him.


	31. Chapter 31

Myriam was happy. Not only had Klaus allowed her to secure their rooms as she saw fit, but he also allowed her to work from home. In fact, he insisted when she brought it up. She still wanted to go back to Débauche at least once a week, but Klaus had promised he'd come with her.

Freya was getting on Myriam's nerves though, but she could understand why. Dahlia was worse than Esther and Freya had been dealing with her aunt for a very long time. And Myriam was worried too. Now that she had accepted that she was going to be a mother, her unborn baby was in danger.

However, for her own sanity, she was going to let Klaus handle this, and stay out of it. She didn't have to fix everything, just keep her head down. However, knowing her luck, trouble would find her or she'd find it. So, she didn't leave the rooms that she had protected.

Rebekah came home with a big haul on books about pregnancy and babies and even had bought the first item of clothing for the baby which made Myriam want to go shopping for baby clothes herself. Which was strange because she'd never had that urge before.

Both Kol and Rebekah were more than happy to accompany her and, feeling safe, she went out with them, and the three of them had so much fun, it was a lot like old times like they used to get into trouble. For the first time in a long time, family felt like family and Myriam knew that their baby was going to be alright.

However, when it was clear that Dahlia had made it to New Orleans, Myriam stayed inside. She knew that she'd likely still be a sitting duck because of Dahlia's powers, but she was safer. Perhaps the surprise that Freya had nothing to do with all the magic around their rooms was going to be a blessing, seeing as Dahlia taught Freya.

Myriam knew that both Klaus and Freya already had their run-ins with Dahlia and survived, but one night, Klaus told Myriam to leave town for a couple of days, with Kol and Davina. He and Freya were going to take on Dahlia, and he wanted her out of New Orleans until it was safe to come back.

She refused at first, but Klaus managed to convince her to leave anyway for her own and their unborn child's safety. And Myriam accepted it because she was allowing Klaus to protect her instead of her protecting him. But, she didn't want to go to Mystic Falls, either. Taking her far away from New Orleans, Kol and Davina decided to take her to Disneyland.

She couldn't help but worry for the three days that they were there, but also loved it because Davina was so excited about Disney that it was infectious and Myriam ended up buying a lot of cute things for the baby. Klaus was going to kill her for taking this mother thing a tad too far, wasn't he? Ah, who cared? She merely hoped that she had a Klaus to come back to.

When they returned, Klaus, Rebekah and, unfortunately, Elijah, were in rough shape but Freya was tending to them. "Welcome home," Freya smiled at them. "We won. Your child is safe from Dahlia, and I am free."

"Good," Myriam replied as she sat down next to Klaus and ruffled his hair. "What happened?"

"Oh, she turned the White Oak Stake into ash and made us breathe it in, but we're alright love," Klaus kissed her gently. "Freya's overreacting and wanting to play the big sister."

"I'm not playing! I am!" Freya laughed, shaking her head. "But yes, they're fine."

"What happened?" Kol asked as he sat down with Davina on his lap.

"We've all become orphans," Klaus replied. "And we won. Granted, nobody really stays dead in this family, but I'm sure that we're through with them for once and for all," he put his arm around Myriam and smiled. She smelled like cotton candy and sunshine. "How was Disney?"

"I know that we discussed no decorated nursery but…" Myriam bit her lips as she looked at Klaus. "I went a little overboard. It was simply too cute to pass up on and-"

"Love, if you want to have a fully decorated nursery, we shall have one."

"Really?"

"Of course, whatever you want for our child."

She smiled then as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Will you dagger Elijah for us?"

"What!" Elijah said confused. "Why? Haven't I suffered enough?"

"No," Myriam said simply, not taking her eyes off of her husband. "It was so peaceful without your brother around."

"But we're a family," Freya said confused.

"Believe me, you'll want his ass daggered within the year," Myriam replied. "He's not all that great."

~o.O.o~

Myriam was so proud of Klaus, hosting an art show at St. James' Infirmary. She loved his paintings, and there were actual people who weren't compelled to be there to admire his work. She kept her distance and sat at the bar nursing a soda, but tonight, Klaus was basking in the light that he deserved to be in.

The critic, however, Myriam wanted as a snack. As her pregnancy progressed, she was getting hungrier and not for just blood, no for the weirdest human food ever. Bananas with mustard or pickles with chocolate. Fried Oreos. Jambalaya with waffles. It disgusted her, but it was all so good.

"I wouldn't expect you to host an art show without compelling the critic to speak your praise," a male voice sounded which made Myriam look at her husband's back and the man's back.

"And I wouldn't expect an uncultured savage to crash such a formal affair." Klaus sounded as if he knew the man. But if he did, how come she didn't?

"Ah well, not my usual scene," the man replied. "Although that annoying blood bag does have a point, your work is derivative."

"Huh."

"Of Degas, I'd say. Of course, I happen to know that you compelled Degas to mentor you. I always thought his work improved after your influence."

"Finally!" Klaus smiled. "Someone with an eye for art!"

"Ah, well, if you live long enough, you do acquire a taste for it. Amongst other things. Speaking of which, can we please have a drink? I am quite parched."

Klaus chuckled as he slapped his friend's shoulder and walked with him to the bar. Myriam tried not to snarl when this man started to bad mouth Kol, although she agreed with how he described Finn. "What are you doing in New Orleans, Lucien?"

"Oh, various reasons," Lucien replied, and Myriam had to dig deep to connect the name to the stories Klaus told her about his life before her. "One, business. Two, there are rumors that there's a vampire in New Orleans that can get pregnant and three, your life might be in danger."

"My life is always being threatened, so I'm not concerned about that," Klaus replied as he tried to remain his cool and Myriam tried not to show anything either. As far as this Lucien was concerned, she didn't exist. "But a vampire who can get pregnant? Where did you hear that, my old friend?"

"Ah, well, you see…" Lucien said proudly. "I've perhaps pulled the greatest con ever. Mortals are so fascinated by the idea of living eternally, right? They hate growing old, there's a shortage of donor organs and such… so, in the 1940s I went to a college not far from here and suggested to a few people that there was a way. With vampires but that no one had actually managed to catch one yet."

Myriam wasn't liking where this was going.

"At the beginning of the 50s, they had acquired a vampire and yet another through one of its members, and they began experimenting on them," Lucien laughed. "It was glorious. Anyway, I've pretended to be a descendant of myself over the years, and they still allowed me to see the data they collected."

"What was this group called, if I may ask, dear Lucien?"

"Augustine. They're smarter than they look, honestly. They developed a cure against werewolf bites for vampires and for humans, they have a serum that can turn vampires into vampire eaters… Oh, Niklaus, it's amazing. And through their research, they discovered a vampire who was carrying a fetus. A live fetus! And she's in New Orleans now!"

"Well, that's truly fascinating, Lucien," Klaus said enthusiastically. "I happen to know that vampire."

"Really? You want to introduce us, maybe? Wouldn't it be grand to continue those experiments together?"

Klaus let out a breath, trying to stay calm. "I'll text her a message, come, let's go out back and wait for her."

Oh, she didn't want to wait until they got outside, but for the sake of all the humans inside St. James' Infirmary and Klaus' beautiful paintings, it was better if they'd do this outside. How old was this Lucien anyway? Oh, that's right, he was only a hundred years younger than Klaus.

Lucien was a dick, and Myriam hoped that Klaus would allow her to get a few punches in.

"You rang?" Myriam said as she walked around the corner of the building.

"Wait, that's the woman from inside," Lucien was confused. Good. "What games are you playing, Niklaus?"

"Me? I'm not playing any game," Klaus said as he made sure Lucien was between himself and his wife. "Lucien, please meet Myriam Mikaelson. My wife."

"Your- what?"

"Wife," Myriam replied as she looked around for anything she could hit Lucien with. "And you're the fucker who created the Frankenstein society and fucked with my friend and me," she said as she found a wrench and picked it up. "Do you have any idea what they put me through? What it felt like?"

Klaus threw Lucien against the wall and Myriam pounced. She started hitting him everywhere, blood spilling out and Lucien struggled when she kept him down with one hand and continued to bludgeon him. "Do you have any idea what they did to my friend? They opened him up, removed his organs and did it all over again the next day. While he was fully conscious!"

She threw away the wrench and popped out Lucien's eye. "Like this!" Lucien cried out in pain as he put his hand in front of his empty socket.

"You bitch!"

"That's Queen Bitch!" she growled as she looked at Klaus, feeling strong and powerful and capable of killing Lucien. But she wanted his permission first, knowing how much he wanted to rip apart Wes Maxfield.

"Go ahead, love," he encouraged her. "I'll take pleasure in watching you rip him to shreds."

Myriam broke Lucien's legs first and then ripped off his arms as he lay on the ground. She then picked the wrench after opening his torso with her bare hands and started to hurt Lucien so bad that Klaus had to muffle his screams. Myriam was soaked in Lucien's blood, but she was feeling so powerful. Here she was, taking apart a vampire that had 800 years on her and it felt great. She put her hand around his heart and squeezed it before ripping it from his chest. "Oh, that felt good," she let out a breath as she allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

Klaus pulled her closer against him. "You look ravishing, my love," he muttered in his ear. "And I'm sorry that Lucien set things in motion for you to get hurt."

"It's alright," Myriam smiled at him before looking down at Lucien's dessicated corpse. "Can we kill some more?"

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "How about I take you home instead where I can peel the clothes off of you and ravish you."

Myriam let out a giggle as she jumped into his arms. "Yes please."

~o.O.o~

Myriam knew that eventually, likely someday soon, she had to start giving birth, but as a vampire, wouldn't that be impossible? Of all the books she read about childbirth, merely pushing one out of her lady parts would only cause the baby to go back in seeing as her body had healing abilities.

It was likely that the baby was going to have to be cut out of her and she didn't like that idea at all, seeing as she wasn't showing, the baby was hiding and chances were that they could stab the baby.

"What's on your mind?" Freya asked after getting tired of the vampire wearing a hole in the rug. "Anything I can help you with?"

Myriam let out a breath. "How on Earth are we going to get this baby out? I mean, my body will heal itself, and it could keep the baby inside, and thus it'll die. Can't exactly cut into me either because you don't know where the baby's hiding."

"Well," Freya said calmly as she stopped Myriam from pacing by grabbing her by her arms and made her face her. "I could make an elixir that could temporarily bind your child's powers so that we can see where it's at. You likely won't like it because the magic will go and you'll balloon like any other pregnant woman. That might hurt."

"But that would work?"

"It should," Freya nodded. "I could have Kol check things over for you, and when he agrees that it's safe for you, you drink it. You expand, we know where to safely slice you open and get your child out of there."

"You make it sound so simple."

"Because it is," she smiled encouragingly. "Now, are you feeling any different from yesterday?"

"Apart from the anxiety? No," she sighed, shaking her head. "But it would give me some peace of mind knowing how long I still have to go."

"Likely another week or so," Freya smiled. "Have you and Klaus thought about of a name yet?"

"Not really, no. But he said he'd leave that responsibility to me."

"Of course he did," Freya handed Myriam a book of names that she had picked up from the bookstore. "This might help you," she said before leading her to the sofa and set her down. "Relax. Everything's going to be alright, I promise."

Myriam huffed. "Where is Klaus, anyway?"

"Dealing with Tristan and Aurora. They're not too pleased that Lucien's dead. Niklaus figured he should kill Tristan and Aurora before they have the chance to mess things up," Freya replied, a smile on her lips. "You were right about my family. They may be violent and volatile, but they do everything for each other. And I believed them to be scattered, but you made them whole again."

"I'm still not allowing Klaus to undagger Elijah."

Freya smiled then. "He doesn't have to. It's terrible of me to admit this, but I went inside Elijah's mind. I saw what kind of monster he truly is. You're having a baby, and you don't want someone like that around it while it grows up. The baby is going to have all the family it's ever going to need with you and Klaus as its parents, and myself, Rebekah and Kol as its uncle and aunties."

"It's not terrible what you did," Myriam smiled at her. "I would have done the same if I'd be reunited with the family I lost long ago. Granted, mine were selfish pigs and didn't even know that my mother had been pregnant, and I didn't accept them but killed them all, but that's different. You knew you had a family and that must have hurt. So I don't blame you for being curious to Elijah and visiting him in his mind," she added. "That being said, we're all still a bunch of vampires with emotions usually running high."

"I know," Freya replied. "But I wouldn't change this for the world. I have wonderful siblings and who in a million years would have thought that Niklaus Mikaelson would have a great wife who's not only beautiful, smart and resilient but also very strong?"

She let out a snort. "That's debatable."

Freya shrugged. "Would you like me to see if I can tell if your child has done cooking?"

"Yes!"

~o.O.o~

It took another month for Freya to be comfortable with delivering the baby. She and Kol had gone over the recipe of the elixir that Myriam needed to drink and were sure that it'd work. "You do realize that it's gonna hurt like a bitch, right?" Kol asked Myriam. "First drinking the elixir, temporarily binding the baby's powers, will make you balloon and look like a pregnant lady for real. But that'll hurt. And then… we have to cut you open and get the baby out."

"She knows the gory details, Kol," Freya said with an amused smile on her lips as she mixed the elixir with some blood and handed the cup to Myriam.

"I'll be fine," Myriam replied, slightly nervous but tried to hide it because she had an anxious hybrid pacing the room as it was. "Seriously, you all need to relax because you're not making things any better for me."

Klaus stopped his pacing for a record of 1.3 seconds. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart, but I just can't stand to see you in any sort of pain or suffering. I've watched you through enough and this - the idea is almost unbearable because it's not only you but our child as well."

"Well, we know it's going to be a bloodbath, but the baby will be fine, and I'll heal. Even if they'd accidentally remove the womb as well, it'll grow back, it'll be fine," she smiled at him. "You could leave the room if you wish, but I think that three pairs of hands are needed."

"No. I'm not leaving your side. Where is Rebekah?" he pressed, coming over to take her hand even though his own were subtly shaking.

"I am here," Rebekah said as she walked in with a bowl of water and some towels underneath her arm. The sharp knife she was going to use was already on the table. "Well, go on then, show us your pregnant belly," she said encouragingly. "Kol, make sure you take a picture or two for memory sake."

Myriam groaned at the sentiment during the stressful moments. "I fucking hate you all right now," she muttered as she downed the blood and the elixir. Not soon after, she could feel her stomach expand and that hurt. Trying not to show her family how much, she decided to walk around to ease the pain somewhat. Her top was getting too tight. Her boobs were expanding as well, and she couldn't help but be in awe of her child's magic.

Looking over at Klaus, she found him staring at her. The expression on his face was one she didn't quite recall seeing over the years, so she wasn't sure how to perceive it. "Klaus?"

"Look at you," he said with a hoarse voice. "You look-"

"I'm pregnant, and fat," she pouted as she looked down at herself. "I don't think I like this feeling. Why do humans enjoy this?"

"You look absolutely ravishing, love," he said as he walked to her and gently placed a hand on her expanded stomach.

"We enjoy it so much because we feel our child grow inside of us," Freya explained after she had swallowed hard and had tried finding the right words. "In a way, your child is a miracle and powerful, but on the other hand, it robbed you of the pleasures of being pregnant. However, I am certain that your next pregnancy will be different. If you so choose to become pregnant again."

"Let's just stick with this one for a while," Myriam said quickly as she looked up to Klaus, he was standing really close to her with a look of admiration on his face. "You really like seeing me like this?"

"It makes it more real, I guess," he muttered as he felt a kick against his hand.

"I felt that," Myriam said as her eyes grew wide. "Oh wow, that…"

Freya smiled then. "I hate to ruin this moment, but we have to hurry. Kol and I didn't make the elixir that potent as we were afraid to bind your child's powers completely or we weren't sure about whether or not it would have permanent side effects."

"It's not safe?"

"It's magic and a child, of course, there's a risk that it's not safe," she said as she nodded at Rebekah to get ready. "Just be ready to feed her your blood, brother, everything will be alright."

Myriam could feel that Klaus was tensing up again and she made him look at her. "It's going to be alright, I trust them, and I will heal. What's important is that our child gets to meet all of us and live a beautiful life."

Klaus let out a breath and scooped her up only to place her on the bed. "Ready?"

"Ready."

~o.O.o~

While it was entirely unnecessary for her to rest in bed as her wounds were healed, she did have to admit that holding her and Klaus' child in her arms as they were on the bed with the three of them was an out of this world experience and Myriam loved it. They were alone in their bedroom, and there was this pink fluffy could that they were on. "He's perfect," she sighed happily.

"A miracle," Klaus smiled at her as their son had wrapped his tiny hand around his finger and was sleeping in his wife's arms. "Did you think of any names for him?"

"I still think it's ridiculous that you're putting me in charge of that. We should be in this together."

Klaus shrugged. "I think it's the woman's duty to pick a name."

"You're being severely old fashioned, Klaus," Myriam rolled her eyes at him. "But so am I, and yes, I've thought of a name for our son."

"And?"

"In my time in France, it was custom to name the first born son after their father. So, I was thinking we could name him Nicholas. Nicky for short."

"W-what?"

Myriam chuckled softly upon seeing the stunned look on Klaus' face. "Nicky Mikaelson."

"Love, I don't think the world is ready for that."

"If you don't like it… or don't appreciate the sentiment… that's fine…" she said slightly disappointed. "I shall have to come up with something else. I could name him after his jerk of a grandfather, but I don't want that… and the other one isn't much better. Everyone knows the Mikaelson name. Everyone knows not to mess with Niklaus Mikaelson. I thought it'd be good to honor you and give our boy a name that would immediately tell people not to mess with him."

He brushed her lips with his own. "I think it's a wise decision and thank you, love…"

She smiled then as she gently caressed their son's cheek with her index finger. "Welcome to the world, Nicholas Mikaelson. We are your parents and while we may be a bit silly at times, know that you are welcome and loved. You will be protected by your family. Always and Forever."


End file.
